The project was born from an idea by Nicolas in September 2024. During a call with Juan, the concept of a telescope farm emerged — on one hand, we asked ourselves, “How can we share our passion?” and on the other, “How can we be competitive in the United States?
For months we worked on the plan. The first question was quickly answered: “It’s worth fighting to live our dreams.” The second one took much longer. To be competitive, we needed to be the best — both in service and in location.
We spent months searching for sites, studying climate history, measuring FWHM and darkness on-site, etc. The task wasn’t simple because:
We wanted a Class 1 sky or as close to that level of darkness as possible.
With excellent seeing.
With the highest number of clear, dry nights.
With high-speed internet and electricity.
And with an accessible road to safely transport fragile equipment.
At the same time, we defined CAPEX and OPEX flows, the required investment (which wasn’t small…), and more.
We knew it would be somewhere in the western United States — but where exactly?
We visited many places, mainly in Nevada, California, and Arizona, where cloud cover statistics were best. Based on seeing, darkness, wind, and cloud data, we concluded that the best area was between Beatty and Amargosa Valley. We visited that region often, and one day, in a local real estate office, we found exactly what we were looking for: a 10-acre property right next to Death Valley, on the border between California and Nevada. It had everything — total darkness, no wind, easy road access, internet, 5G, electricity, and water.
We discussed it and didn’t hesitate — this was our chance. On October 1st, 2025, the land was officially ours.
Once we had the land, the hardest part began — Part 2 of this story: How we built Death Valley Observatories.