A status report on the instruments for ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope

In this paper we will give an overview of the status of the three instruments and one adaptive optics module that are currently under construction for the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Currently three of those instruments are in the final design stages and the adaptive optics module, MAORY, is rapidly approaching its Preliminary Design Review (PDR). Funding for the laser tomographic module for HARMONI has been secured and that module is now included as part of that overall instrument project. The PDR phase of the instruments has strongly highlighted the ambitious nature of these and all 30-m class instrument projects. Scientifically, managerially and technically, the step up from the 8-m class is challenging. This paper will provide an introduction to all these instruments and will highlight some of the important developments required to realise them.