The world’s second-largest satellite and space debris tracking station is being built in Egypt.

Rasha Ghoneim, the head of the Space Research Laboratory at the Egyptian National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), announced that the institute is collaborating with China on the project.

According to Space in Africa, work on the first of the tracking station’s two domes has already started and should be complete in August, after which construction of the second will start.

The first telescope, which has a diameter of 120 cm and is dedicated to tracking space debris, is scheduled to arrive from China by the end of July. The second, 70 cm telescope, which will monitor both space debris and satellites, is expected to be dispatched in August.

Ghoneim added that the station will also be equipped with two laser devices for monitoring the space debris.

Experts from China will train an Egyptian team to operate the station during its trial operational phase, which starts in August.

20 June 2023
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