Definitive: The Arecibo telescope will not be rebuilt  

After its collapse in 2020

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has finally decided not to rebuild the massive Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico after it collapsed in 2020. Instead, the agency plans to turn it into a training center that is expected to open sometime in 2023.

The Arecibo Observatory was an important tool in space exploration and made its appearance in several films such as Contact and Golden Eye. But in August 2020, an auxiliary support cable broke and in November a second broke. The NSF decided that the structure was no longer stable and wanted to demolish it, but before they could, the telescope collapsed on itself.