Astronomers Save Chile's Dark Skies From Energy Project

Astronomers around the world are celebrating after winning a David-versus-Goliath battle to protect some of the planet's most important telescopes from light pollution.

AES Andes, a subsidiary of an American energy company, announced last week it's abandoning plans for a sprawling renewable energy facility in Chile's Atacama Desert. The project would have sat just five kilometers from the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory, home to the Very Large Telescope that's revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.

The Atacama Desert hosts some of Earth's darkest, clearest skies, which is exactly why it's become home to several of the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes. Scientists feared the proposed INNA project would increase light pollution by at least 35 percent and create atmospheric turbulence that would blur their views of distant galaxies and stars.

The fight began when María Teresa Ruiz, an astronomer at the University of Chile, launched a letter-writing campaign to news organizations and scientific journals in early 2025. Nobel laureate Reinhard Genzel joined the cause, traveling to Paranal with Germany's president to demand action.

By November, dozens of international astronomers penned an open letter to Chile's government. They weren't asking the company to abandon the green energy project entirely, just to move it 50 kilometers away where it wouldn't interfere with scientific research.

The breakthrough came when Chile's president-elect José Antonio Kast publicly opposed the project's location. Ruiz celebrated with champagne. Within weeks, AES Andes announced it was pulling the plug on INNA.

The Ripple Effect

The victory demonstrates how coordinated community action can protect important scientific resources. Ruiz and fellow astronomers are now working with Chilean senators to pass legislation that would permanently protect the nation's observatory sites from future threats.

Chile hosts multiple world-class telescopes, including the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which uses the world's largest digital camera to map the night sky in unprecedented detail. Protecting these sites means protecting humanity's ability to explore the cosmos and answer fundamental questions about our universe.

The success story offers lessons for other astronomical battles. Genzel believes similar collaborative approaches, especially those involving local communities from the start, could resolve conflicts like the decade-long dispute over Hawaii's Thirty Meter Telescope.

Astronomers worldwide are now using the same community organizing tactics to address satellite mega constellations that streak across telescope images. Nearly 10,000 satellites already orbit Earth, with hundreds of thousands more planned.

This win proves that when scientists, government officials, and the public work together, they can protect resources that benefit all of humanity.