Konstantin Sukharnikov Scientific instrumentation

A hobby. An independent overview compiled from public sources by a science and space enthusiast. I am not involved in these missions or facilities; my own work is detector electronics at European XFEL. My projects →

Facility · Gravitational waves

Einstein Telescope (ET)

Third-generation underground gravitational-wave detector

Status
Planned
Location
Candidate sites: Meuse–Rhine (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany), Sardinia (Italy), Lusatia (Germany)
Operator
ET Collaboration, on the ESFRI roadmap
Next
end of 2026 — site bid books due; 2027 — site selection

Summary

A planned European underground interferometer of the third generation (arms of about 10 km or more, cryogenics, sensitivity at low frequencies). It will observe mergers across the whole observable universe.

Now as of 4 Nov 2026

There are three candidate sites. In July 2026 Lusatia and Sardinia announced a joint bid (TU Dresden). Bid books are due by the end of 2026 (Physics World). A presentation from January 2026 puts the official site selection in the second quarter of 2027 (Nikhef, PDF), while reports from July say "end of 2027". Earlier expectations of a decision in 2026 are out of date.

Key dates

  1. Jul 2026Joint bid by Lusatia and Sardiniadone
  2. 2026 (end)Site bid books submittedplanned
  3. 2027 (Q2 to end of year)Site selectionplanned