From rq: You can find this in the middle of the Courland forest on the west coast of Latvia – formerly the west coast of the USSR. It’s now half radio astronomy research centre and half military site, but it’s in the middle of an abandoned former top secret military town. One of the largest such satellite dishes in Europe of its time. About a half-k to the left is the Baltic Sea. Click for full size!
© rq, all rights reserved.
I don’t see any references to what the facility was for but it looks like satellite downlink, perhaps for RHYOLITE.
All I know is back in the day it was a major spying facility and US space satellite monitor. Now it does space research in collaboration with the local university, too. They do tours, and that’s on the list of Need To Go, when I do, I will share. My dad had a contact that had contacts here, but I can’t ask him anymore, which is a pity -- the insider stories are so much more interesting than the official line.
I’ll try to send some shots from Dublin next month.