MAORY is a post-focal adaptive optics module that forms part of the first light instrument suite for ELT. The main function of MAORY is to relay the light beam from the ELT focal plane to the client instrument while compensating the effect of atmospheric turbulence and other disturbances affecting the wavefront from scientific sources of interest. It is designed to support two different instruments, both with the same optical quality and with a gravity invariant port. One of these two instruments will be MICADO, the high resolution camera for ELT. MAORY is being designed and built by a consortium of partners in Italy (INAF is the lead Institute), France and Ireland together with ESO. The project passed the preliminary design review and is now entering the final design phase. In this talk I will review the status of the project, its schedule and I will illustrate the scientific drivers of the MAORY-MICADO combination, the winning combination for the next generation of near infrared diffraction limited observations.