The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) Alfonso Serrano: current status and future upgrades

The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) Alfonso Serrano is a bi-national (Mexico and USA) telescope facility constructed on the summit of Sierra Negra, at an altitude of 4600m, in the Mexican state of Puebla. The LMT is a 50-m diameter single-dish radio-telescope designed, constructed and optimized to conduct scientific observations using heterodyne and continuum receivers, as well as VLBI observations, at frequencies between ~70 and 350 GHz. The LMT has an active surface control-system to correct gravitational and thermal deformations of the primary reflector to enable both night-time and daytime observations. We describe the current status and technical performance of the LMT, the instrumentation development program, and an on-going series of engineering and technical upgrades that will increase the optical efficiency and sensitivity of the telescope which will improve the overall scientific productivity and operational efficiency of the LMT.