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Monthly Updates

Construction Project Status

(updated 19 March 2025)

All integration activities in preparation for installation of LSSTCamera were nearly completed this month. There were only minor scheduling details that have LSSTCamera installation now planned for 6 March. Some clean-up of formal milestones was also adjusted with the Telescope and Site subsystem. Recognition of some long duration punch-list items have been removed for separate tracking that allow the level 1 tracking milestone to move sooner.

Project earned value toward the MREFC effort increased by $1.5 million this month to a calculated $540.2 million. The cost variance changed by -$0.3 million this month to -$1.4 million, and the cost performance index held at 1.00. The schedule variance changed by -$0.6 million to -$3.6 million, which equates to a schedule performance index of 0.99. Five project controls change requests (LCRs) were implemented this month returning $679,512 to contingency. As of the end of the month, the project has allocated 96% of the total contingency to the baseline through the change control process. The remaining contingency of $3.7 million is 14.0% of (TPCII[1] -BAC[2]-CV)/(EACII[3]-ACWP[4]). 

(ETC = Estimate to completion, BAC = Budget at completion, BCWP = Budgeted cost of work performed).

Select Milestones

The following list of milestones dates were extracted from the project control system at the end of the November 2024 accounting peiod.
As of the last update of this page the following milestones have been completed as communicated on social media:

  • ComCam off TMA
  • ComCam off Sky
  • LSSTCam on Top End Assembly
  • LSSTCam L3 Checkout Done
  • LSSTCam on TMA

A visual of the below list can be found here.

The table shows forecast dates, i.e., the Project’s current best estimate. There is, in addition, schedule contingency that is not included in those dates, amounting to about 6 weeks at present. It is likely that the Project will use most or all of that schedule contingency. 

The schedule for science data is best estimated relative to the System First Light Milestone. The Operations Team, in consultation with the Rubin Construction Project, currently anticipate the following:

  • The first data preview release (DP1, for details see http://ls.st/rtn-011, which is currently under revision), based on a subset of images supporting the System First Light milestone: 2-3 months after System First Light 
  • The LSST Survey start: 4-7 months after System First Light. Some “near-live” alerts are planned around the time of the LSST Survey start, and then alert production is planned to increase smoothly to "live" during the early months of the LSST Survey, covering more regions over time as the static-sky templates are built up.
  • Data Preview 2 (DP2): 9-12 months after System First Light
  • Data Release 1 (DR1): 12-14 months after LSST Survey start

Top level Earned Value Management (EVM) Data Table

Key Activities

(Updated 11 March 2025)

Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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