A proposal to build the world's largest telescope atop Mauna Kea has cleared another hurdle.

The body that manages land at the summit of the Big Island volcano on Wednesday recommended that the University of Hawaii at Hilo chancellor approve the Thirty Meter Telescope. Office of Mauna Kea Management interim director Stephanie Nagata said the Mauna Kea Management Board unanimously voted to recommend the project.

The chancellor will decide whether to recommend the project to the University of Hawaii president, who will in turn make a recommendation to the school's Board of Regents.

If the telescope clears these hurdles, Thirty Meter Telescope managers will apply to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for a permit.

TMT's board of directors in July 2009 chose Mauna Kea as the location to build the world's most advanced mirror telescope.

The Thirty Meter Telescope project is a partnership of the University of California, California Institute of Technology and Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy.

TMT hopes to have the telescope ready to go in 2017.