Embarking on a remarkable voyage that began near Poitiers, France, where the ELT segments were finished, they then traveled by road to the port of Le Havre. On 17 December 2023, these vital components of the ELT set off across the ocean. They arrived at the port of Antofagasta and continued their long journey on dry land, reaching ESO's Paranal Observatory on 12 January 2024.

Due to the sheer size and fragility of the mirror segments -each mirror is five centimetres thick, 1.5 metres wide and are shaped to nanometre accuracy- they were each shipped in a private, protective cocoon. Each box was equipped with humidity, temperature and shock sensors to track the internal conditions during the long journey. When loaded into the transport vehicles, the boxes were cushioned by air bags. Upon arrival at the technical facility, the segments were carefully inspected to ensure they had not been damaged during delivery.

With the segments at Paranal, the next phase in this intricate process involves the coating of the mirror segments in the ELT Technical Facility to give them their highly reflective finish, a process that will be reiterated on each segment every 18 months once the ELT begins observations.

The ELT is coming ever closer to its first light: more than 100 segments have already left the production line and are being checked by ESO engineers before they can be shipped to Chile.