The Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope: status update of the prototype telescope

The Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope (LFAST) will provide a large, scalable collecting area, equivalent to or greater than other ELTs under construction, at a much reduced cost. LFAST will carry out scientific investigations that require spectroscopy with high-signal-to-noise or of faint objects. LFAST is an array telescope, combining light from hundreds of 0.76m diameter prime focus telescopes into a single fiber-fed spectrograph. Twenty telescopes will be mounted on a common alt-az mount, and we are currently constructing the first prototype twenty-unit system. In this talk we will present status and updates from the first 2.5 years of the LFAST project, and describe plans for large arrays, including a 200-unit system in the next few years and a 2,640 unit system in the future.