Located in Chile and scheduled to be completed in 2025, the telescope will be the most powerful in the world. Spanning nearly 39 m in diameter, it will be composed of 798 hexagonal segments, each measuring 1.45 m across and produced at a factory near Poitiers, western France.

As polishing represents a crucial and meticulous stage on which the precision of the telescope depends, the project requires considerable technical prowess in terms of processes, such as ionic milling and robotics. In addition, the production rate introduces further constraints in mounting, commissioning and availability of the equipment.     

Actemium Maintenance Ouest Centre, a VINCI Energies company, was entrusted with the maintenance of all the equipment within the facility. Therefore, it put together a turnkey service that combines process digitisation, construction of a maintenance plan, implementation of ranges, definition of a stock of parts and operational maintenance.  

The four employees on site each day ensure preventive and corrective maintenance on the equipment. The team provides dull transparency, a rigorous methodology and flexible management, which offer the client complete satisfaction.

The contract began in September 2019 and is scheduled to come to an end at the end of 2022.