RT-70

70-m aerial P-2500 (RT-70 radio telescope) in Yevpatoria.

There are three radio telescopes designated RT-70, all in countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union, all with similar specifications: 70m dishes and an operating range of 5–300 GHz. They are a part of the former Soviet Deep Space Network, now operated by Russia. The Yevpatoria facility has also been used as a radar telescope in observations of space debris and asteroids.

With their 70m antenna diameter, they are among the largest radio telescopes in the world.

They are:

• the Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope at the former soviet Center for Deep Space Communications or West Center for Deep Space Communications, Yevpatoria, Crimea.
• the Galenki RT-70 radio telescope at the East Center for Deep Space Communications, Galenki (Ussuriysk), Russia.
• the Suffa RT-70 radio telescope at the Suffa Radio Observatory on the Suffa plateau, Uzbekistan. Never completed.

In 2008, RT-70 was used to beam 501 messages at the exoplanet Gliese 581c, in hopes of making contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The messages should arrive in 2029.

See also

• RT-64, a smaller aperture Russian design.

External links

• Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope (in Russian)
• Suffa RT-70 radio telescope (in Russian)
• Suffa Radio Observatory in Uzbekistan: progress and radio-seeing research plans
• Russian Space Agency Backs US Asteroid Control Plan (mentions Galenki telescope)
• Don P. Mitchel. Soviet Telemetry Systems. Deep-Space Communication Centers