Scientists and officials said that the budget cuts planned by the government in Australia might threaten the Mopra telescope of CSIRO.

Officials said that the funding cuts form the federal government is forcing them to look for alternative models. The Mopra telescope is located at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales and is among the best space research assets in the country. The facility is now facing the danger of closure even as it has recorded several achievements and shown to be highly productive.

CSIRO appears to lack the resources to operate the telescope after this year even as the facility has been very cost-effective and fully automated.The Mopra telescope regularly supports several scientists in Australia and overseas in research. It is charting a new atlas of our galaxy and mapping the interstellar gas of the southern Milky Way.

Team Mopra have said that they are aiming to raise $65,000 by Sunday, 11 October, 2015 through voluntary donations to their Kickstarter campaign. They also said that more than 270 people have already pledged a total of about $18,000. Several people in the world of scientific research are turning to crowdfunding to sustain their projects and facilities in the face of budget cuts around the world.