Astronomy is entering an era in which several major facilities are simultaneously operating, or standing up, science platforms designed to deliver petabyte-scale data and computing to their communities. As missions and observatories move from data collection to data delivery at scale, they are independently converging on similar architectural choices — and independently running into similar operational challenges — around federated access, compute-to-data, authentication, and long-term sustainability. This BoF is proposed by confirmed panelists from Euclid/ESA Datalabs, Vera Rubin Observatory, the SKA Regional Centre Network (SRCNet), Roman Telescope, CADC/CANFAR, NASA/Fornax and LOFAR. Other platforms are invited to join the discussion to compare architectures, operational lessons, and user-facing services for large-scale science platforms and workflows.

With Euclid's Data Release 1 (DR1), a full year of Vera Rubin Observatory operations, the launch of the Roman Space Telescope, and SKA Low's science verification getting underway next year, the timing is ideal to take stock of what's working, what isn't, and where the community could converge — on topics such as federated data access, compute-to-data models, interoperability standards, and the balance between bespoke platform development and shared infrastructure. Panellists will open the session with a short position statement on how their platform is architected and operated today, before the floor opens to a moderated discussion aimed at surfacing common challenges and concrete opportunities for collaboration across observatories.