The ASTROVIRTEL Project was funded from 2000 until 2003. It was supported by the European Commission’s Access to Research Infrastructures action of the Improving Human Potential Programme and managed by the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility

Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility

right|The Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility is an institution which provides a number of support and service functions primarily for European observers of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope...

 (ST-ECF) on behalf of European Space Agency

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

 (ESA) and European Southern Observatory

European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...

(ESO).

Its aim was to enhance the scientific return of the ST-ECF/ESO Archive, allowing European users to exploit the archive as a virtual telescope, retrieving and analyzing large quantities of data with the assistance of the Archive operators and personnel. The ASTROVIRTEL Selection Panel selected up to six proposals per year.

ASTROVIRTEL was an initial step towards a proper "Virtual Observatory" such as the European Virtual Observatory.