  In recent years, ground-based very-high-energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray
astronomy has experienced a major breakthrough with the impressive
astrophysical results obtained mainly by the current generation experiments
like H.E.S.S., MAGIC, MILAGRO and VERITAS. The ground-based Imaging Air
Cherenkov Technique for detecting VHE gamma-rays has matured, and a fast
assembly of inexpensive and robust telescopes is possible. The goal for the
next generation of instruments is to increase their sensitivity by a factor >10
compared to current facilities, to extend the accessible gamma-ray energies
from a few tens of GeV to a hundred TeV, and to improve on other parameters
like the energy and angular resolution (improve the point-spread function by a
factor 4-5 w.r.t. current instruments). The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
project is an initiative to build the next generation ground-based gamma-ray
instrument, will serve as an observatory to a wide astrophysics community. I
discuss the key physics goals and resulting design considerations for CTA, the
envisaged technical solutions chosen, and the organizational and operational
requirements for operating such a large-scale facility as well as the specific
needs of VHE gamma-ray astronomy.
