Aschheim conceded that he and his team have focused more on the technical demands of the Carbon Meter project than financial returns.

FORBES: Using Carbon Credits To Pay For Energy Retrofits

To date, the LZT is largest, although India, Belgium and Canada are building the International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT), a 4-meter project which should see completion by March.

FORBES: Liquid Mirror Telescope Technology Finally Going Mainstream

"The day is not so far off when the mysteries of the dark ages of the Universe and the physical properties of the first galaxies will be revealed, " Masanori Iye, the leader of the Thirty Meter Telescope project at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, said in a statement.

MSN: Newfound galaxy may be most distant ever seen

The Hawaiian Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) announced that it has granted a permit to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project to build and operate the next-generation observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea.

ENGADGET: Hawaii clears land use for the Thirty Meter Telescope, construction to start in 2014