Telescope with 2nd largest diameter to be installed at new space observatory in Helwan

CAIRO – 20 March 2022: The world’s second largest station to monitor satellites and space debris in terms of the telescope diameter is being established at the Institute of Astronomy in Helwan in cooperation with China, head of the institute said Saturday.

Gad al-Kady, head of Helwan Astronomy Institute, said the project is part of Egypt’s efforts to support space programs, especially after the established of the Egyptian Space Agency in 2018.

The institute began monitoring satellites in 1957 in conjunction with the launch of the first Russian spacecraft with a camera system.

In 1981, it began monitoring satellites using laser beams, a technique that is still working to this day in the institute.

A new station was inaugurated recently in Kattamiya, and another will be opened by the end of 2022 in Helwan, according to Kady, and two other stations are planned to be built in Abu Simbel of Aswan and at the New Astronomical Observatory that is still under construction.

The stations will cover the skies of Egypt and monitor accurately space debris and satellites, Kady said.