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The Entoto Observatory domes
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Entoto Observatory and Research Center

EORC · Established by ESSS · now run by the government

The observatory on Mount Entoto, above Addis Ababa, established by the Society as the country's first centre for astronomy and space science research. It was later transferred to the government, and is no longer run by ESSS.

On Hewa+
From the Ground Up: How the ESSS and Entoto Observatory Reshaped Ethiopian Space Policy →
Today
SSGI's Telescope and Planetarium Center ↗

The observatory

Map: OCHA / HDX Ethiopia COD-AB v04 (2025), CC BY-IGO 3.0. Display geometry simplified and projected; source areas ET01 and ET99 merged as Tigray at ESSS request. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-eth Tigray Afar Amhara Oromia Somali Benishangul-Gumuz Central Ethiopia South Ethiopia South West Ethiopia Gambela Harari Addis Ababa Dire Dawa Sidama Entoto
Mount Entoto, on the northern edge of Addis Ababa.
Location
Mount Entoto, on the northern edge of Addis Ababa
Altitude
About 3,200 m
Telescopes
Twin 1-metre optical telescopes, with CCD cameras
Established by
The Ethiopian Space Science Society
Run today by
SSGI, as its Telescope and Planetarium Center

What it is for

  • Research and training in astronomy and astrophysics.
  • Space science, Earth observation and satellite science.
  • National and international collaboration in all of these.

The Society and Entoto

  1. 2012

    The Society builds the Entoto Observatory and Research Center: the first institution in Ethiopia working on astronomy, space science, satellite technology and Earth observation.

  2. Transfer

    The centre is transferred to the Ministry of Science and Technology, now the Ministry of Innovation and Technology.

  3. 2016

    Growing out of the work begun at Entoto, the government establishes the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI).

  4. 2022

    ESSTI becomes the Space Science and Geospatial Institute (SSGI).