Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy are funding four advanced telescopes through their charity Schmidt Sciences[1][2]. These telescopes make up the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, which includes three ground-based observatories and one space-based telescope called Lazuli[1][2]. Lazuli has a mirror diameter of 10.2 feet, larger than Hubble, and is scheduled for launch in 2029 into a stable lunar resonance orbit up to 275,000 km from Earth[1][2]. The telescope will be equipped with a wide-angle camera, an integral graph and a high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging of exoplanets[1]. Its goals include studying the atmospheres of exoplanets around Sun-like stars, modeling supernovae, investigating the Hubble strain, and supporting missions such as NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope[1]. Ground-based observatories use modular arrays of smaller mirrors to quickly cover wide areas of the sky and track changes such as supernovae or near-Earth objects[2]. All telescopes will operate on the principle of open data, freely available to the scientific community[2]. The project was announced on January 7, 2026 at the American Astronomical Society conference in Arizona[1].