DOE approved CD-0 (Mission Need) on September 18, 2012, approved CD-1 (Alternative Selection and Cost Range) on March 19, 2015, and CD-2 (Performance Baseline) on September 17, 2015. Congressional approval for the start of DESI as a new Major Item of Equipment was provided in the FY15 Energy & Water appropriations legislation. Construction on the new instrument started June 22, 2016 with CD-3 (Start Construction) approval and was largely assembled by 2019 with commissioning finishing in March 21, 2020 in advance of the pandemic and marking the formal end of the project (CD-4). DESI was completed under budget by $1.9M and 17 months ahead of schedule. As a consequence, the project received the DOE Project Management Excellence Award for 2020. After a pause for the pandemic and a transition to remote operations, DESI returned to survey operations in December, 2020 with a final checkout and validation phase prior to starting its planned five-year survey. The five-year survey began on May 14, 2021. DESI was shut down for three months in the summer of 2022 due to the Contreras fire which engulfed Kitt Peak. DESI was undamaged and is acquiring scientific data.