Astronomers have decided to restart construction of a controversial telescope in Hawaii that has been the subject of protests by Native Hawaiian groups. Construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the Mauna Kea volcano will resume on Wednesday, 24 June, according to a statement issued Saturday by the telescope’s governing board.

“After more than two months of consultation, education, and dialogue with many stakeholders, we humbly announce that the TMT International Observatory Board has decided to move ahead,” said Henry Yang, chair of the TMT International Observatory Board, in the statement. The move comes after Hawaii’s governor, David Ige (D), announced on 26 May a set of measures aimed at addressing the concerns of Native Hawaiian protesters who claim the mountain as sacred ground and have blocked access to the TMT construction site. It included a call to remove about one-quarter of Mauna Kea’s 13 existing telescopes and alter the management of some of the volcano’s summit. "We have not done right by a very special place and we must act immediately to change that," Ige said at the time.

In the statement, Yang states that “[w]e are now comfortable that we can be better stewards and better neighbors during our temporary and limited use of this precious land, which will allow us to explore the heavens and broaden the boundaries of science in the interest of humanity.”

Here is the rest of the 20 June statement: