GTCAO is the single-conjugate aAdaptive Optics system being developed for the GTC. In its first light it will consist of a natural star system (NGS), which will be upgraded later to an Artificial Laser Guided Star (LGS) system. 

The system is currently in the final stages of integration and verification (AIV), and it is expected that during 2021 the acceptance tests and the telescope first light will be carried out.

After a test phase of the adaptive optics system and the telescope with the TestCam test camera (J- and H-band imaging only), GTCAO will be ready for the first scientific observations of the telescope at the diffraction limit with GTC, the world's largest diameter telescope.