Atacama Large Millimeter Array - Wikipedia ALMA is an international partnership amongst Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Chile.[4] Costing about US$1.4 billion, it is the most expensive ground-based telescope in operation.[5][6] ALMA began scientific observations in the second half of 2011 and the first images were released to the press on 3 October 2011. The array has been fully operational since March 2013.[7] with astronomyradio