on 13-10-2021
The Pampilhosa da Serra Space Observatory - PASO has been developing activities in the field of Space Situational Knowledge (SSA), taking advantage of the excellent environmental conditions and low electromagnetic noise of the Serra do Açor, in Pampilhosa da Serra region, the heart of the certified destination Dark Sky Aldeias do Xisto. Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT) has installed two radio telescopes there, with 9-meter and 5-meter in diameter. The 9-meter is being transformed into a space radar (up to 1000Km altitude) in partnership with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) within the scope of the SST project (more about this project below). This project is being implemented in collaboration between MND, IT, and the Municipality of Pampilhosa da Serra.
The MND is stimulating the creation of capacity in the various aspects of the SSA/SST for the benefit of society, supporting the creation of scientific and industrial capacity and promoting the installation in Portugal of spatial tracking systems inserted in international networks with the creation of observation/processing and operation centers.
On October 13th, an official visit to the complex will take place by the Minister of National Defense, Professor João Gomes Cravinho, who will be accompanied by the guests: Director General of National Defense Resources, Dr. Vasco Hilário, President of the Chamber Municipality of Pampilhosa da Serra, José Brito, the Coordinator of the TICE.PT Cluster, Engineer Vasco Lagarto, the President of IT, Professor José Carlos Pedro, the national representative of SST-PT network program, Commander José de Freitas, and the Coordinator of the project, Doctor Domingos Barbosa.
The program includes a visit to the telescope, a visit to the Radar SST antenna and demonstration of the transmission-reception chain developed by IT, a visit to the PASO complex, and a presentation of new projects by Domingos Barbosa (IT).