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Russia, Turkey extend joint use of RTT-150 telescope in Turkey till 2028

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Western sanctions not to affect Russian space observatory project

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russia and Turkey on Monday extended their agreement on joint use of the RTT-150 1.5-meter optical telescope till the year 2028.

The telescope was built by the Leningrad Optico-Mechanical Association and installed at Turkey’s State Observatory. It key task is ground-based support to orbital observatories, including the Planck space observatory operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will soon be used to support the Russian-German space laboratory Spektr-RG after it is put in orbit.

As many as 45% of observation time at the telescope in Turkey will allocated to Russia’s Kazan Federal University, 15% — to the Russian Institute of Space Research, and 40% — to Turkish universities.

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