Itapetinga Radio Observatory

Rádio Observatório do Itapetinga (ROI), renamed Rádio Observatório Pierre Kaufmann (ROPK) in 2019, is an INPE-operated radio astronomy facility in Atibaia, São Paulo. Its main 13.7-metre antenna was installed in the early 1970s and began operations in 1972; INPE technical material describes it as designed for frequencies up to 100 GHz, with best performance around 20–50 GHz, and protected by a radio-transparent dome. The site supports solar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, solar-radio and space-weather monitoring, and VLF/ionospheric measurements; INPE’s programme pages provide research, instrument, weather and observing-time information, while official INPE material records a municipal electrical-silence zone established in 1972 to protect observations. This is an operating research facility rather than a general walk-in attraction: reviewed INPE pages provide contact and scientific-user pathways but no public visitor programme, so arrange authorization before travel and respect the local radio-silence rules.