CTIO's facilities are available for use for approved projects by qualified astronomers. CTIO is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc. (AURA), under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation as part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories, which also operates Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson Arizona. The NSF is also the operating agency for the Gemini Observatory. The European Southern Observatory and the Carnegie Institution of Washington also operate major astronomical observatories nearby.