These are the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS), VST ATLAS and the VST Photometric Hα Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane (VPHAS+). They focus on a wide range of astronomical issues from searching for highly energetic quasars to understanding the nature of dark energy. More information about the surveys can be found on the ESO - The VST Surveys website. The data volume produced by OmegaCAM is large. About 30 terabytes of raw data will be produced per year and will flow back into data centres in Europe for processing. A novel and sophisticated software system has been developed at Groningen and Naples to handle the very large data flow. The end products from the processing will be huge lists of the objects found, as well as images, and these will be made available to astronomers worldwide for scientific analysis. Funding for the data analysis was uncertain in 2011. The loss of the first mirror in 2002 while being transported from Europe to Chile caused delays in the construction of the telescope. The new primary and repaired secondary were completed in 2006. Testing was finished in Italy and the telescope was dismounted, painted and packed, then shipped and mounted at Paranal. The first parts arrived in June 2007, and the first phase of integration at Paranal was completed in April, 2008. The mirrors were stored while their cells were constructed; further delays occurred when the primary mirror cell suffered water damage while in transit to Chile, requiring it to be returned to Europe for repair. The first images from the VST were released on June 8, 2011. In planetary science, the survey telescope aims to discover and study remote Solar System bodies such as trans-Neptunian objects, as well as search for extrasolar planet transits. The Galactic plane will also be extensively studied with VST, which will look for signatures of tidal interactions in the Milky Way, and will provide astronomers with data crucial to understand the structure and evolution of our Galaxy. Further afield, the VST will explore nearby galaxies, extragalactic and intra-cluster planetary nebulae, and will perform surveys of faint object and micro-lensing events. The telescope will also peer into the distant Universe to help astronomers find answers to long-standing questions in cosmology. It will target medium-redshift supernovae to help pin down the cosmic distance scale and understand the expansion of the Universe. The VST will also look for cosmic structures at medium-high redshift, active galactic nuclei and quasars to further our understanding of galaxy formation and the Universe's early history.