Russia Opens 1st Ground Station to Monitor Orbital Debris in Brazil

A spokesman of the Roscosmos state corporation said that Russia's first ground station of the Automated Warning System on Hazardous Situations in Outer Space aimed at monitoring orbital debris was opened in Brazil. RIO DE JANEIRO (Sputnik) — Russia's first ground station of the Automated Warning System on Hazardous Situations in Outer Space (ASPOS OKP) aimed at monitoring orbital debris was opened in Brazil, a spokesman of the Roscosmos state corporation told Sputnik on Wednesday. "The main goal of the ASPOS OKP is to monitor dangerous approaches of the devices operating on orbit with orbital debris and to follow falling satellites… The facility is located at the Pico dos Dias Observatory [in Brazil's western Minas Gerais state]," the spokesman said. He added that the Brazilian facility was the first of the four specialized centers being created by Roscosmos for the needs of the ASPOS OKP. The opening ceremony was attended by the leadership of Roscosmos, including the corporation's head Igor Komarov, as well as the representatives of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), the country's science ministry and the National Astrophysics Laboratory (LNA). Read more: https://sputniknews.com/science/201704061052338906-rusia-monitor-orbital-debris/