https://www.nasa.gov/feature/searching-for-space-junk-in-paradise

Located halfway between Brazil and Africa with clear skies and tropical temperatures, Ascension Island sounds like a perfect vacation destination. However, you won’t find many tourists there. In fact, NASA scientists are required to take two military training courses, fill out several detailed forms, undergo a medical exam and get approval from both the British and U.S. military before they can travel to this British overseas territory to conduct official business.

It may then come as a surprise that NASA installed a brand new telescope there.

The John Africano NASA/Air Force Research Laboratory Orbital Debris Observatory houses the 20 thousand pound Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island. It is operated remotely by scientists in the Orbital Debris Program based in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division, which performs physical science research at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

....