The snow-dusted peak of Mount Wilson in California has been home to many famous observatories. Until 1949, its 100-inch Hooker telescope was the largest aperture telescope in the world, and in 2004, its CHARA array became the world’s largest optical interferometer.

Now, two new observatories are being built there that, while not focused on the stars, might prove equally historic. They could house Facebook’s first laser communications systems designed to connect to satellites in orbit.

Construction permits issued by the County of Los Angeles show that a small company called PointView Tech LLC is building two detached observatories on the mountain peak.

PointView is the company that IEEE Spectrum revealed last year to be a previously unknown subsidiary of Facebook working on an experimental satellite called Athena. In April, PointView sought permission from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to test whether E-band radio signals could “be used for the provision of fixed and mobile broadband access in unserved and underserved areas.”

That application was still pending at the FCC before the current U.S. federal government shutdown took effect, but it and other public documents and presentations now strongly suggest that PointView is planning to utilize laser technology, possibly both in Athena and future spacecraft.