The BELLA II project took centre stage during the recent meeting of the South American–African Astronomy Coordination Committee (SA3CC), held in La Serena, Chile.
Recognized as a key enabler of digital infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, BELLA II was presented as a critical element in supporting the large-scale, high-speed transfer of scientific data between the region and global research centres.
Co-funded by the European Union under the Global Gateway strategy and implemented by RedCLARA, BELLA II is strengthening high-capacity, resilient, and secure connectivity across the region. In his intervention at the meeting, Marco Teixeira, Director of Technical Infrastructure, Services, and Commercial at RedCLARA, highlighted the project’s direct contribution to enabling advanced research in data-intensive fields such as astronomy, through state-of-the-art infrastructure aligned with international standards of cybersecurity, interoperability, and operational reliability.
Organized by AmLight and hosted by REUNA, Chile’s national research and education network, the meeting brought together leading astronomical institutions operating in Chile — including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, NOIRLab-AURA, GMTO, CTAO, CCAT, Simons Observatory, and NRAO-ALMA — as well as representatives of national and international research and education networks such as RNP (Brazil), Internet2, ESnet, and RedCLARA.
The SA3CC provides a platform for optical and radio astronomy projects, research, and education networks to exchange information and coordinate the network requirements of astronomical institutions and initiatives. During the meeting, participating networks shared updates on their technical development, while the astronomical projects outlined their current and future needs for data transfer to globally distributed processing centres.
In the case of the research and education networks, the discussions focused on the improvements or changes made in each network since the previous SA3CC meeting. They also shared information about tools used to measure the movement of scientific data across the network and to detect events that may affect that process, explained Julio Ibarra, Research Professor at Florida International University (FIU) and Principal Investigator of AmLight.
RedCLARA reaffirmed its role as a regional connector between the national networks of Latin America and global research networks such as Internet2, ESnet, and AmLight, ensuring uninterrupted data flows from remote locations to data centers in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world.
The collaborative work between research networks and major astronomical observatories is fundamental to ensuring the rapid and secure transfer of data to distributed processing centres across the globe. RedCLARA plays a central role in this digital architecture by linking the region to global networks, such as Internet2, ESnet, and AmLight, Julio Ibarra stressed.
Albert Astudillo, Technology Manager at REUNA (a member of RedCLARA), also noted that for REUNA, hosting this activity represented recognition of the national academic network’s key role within Chile’s scientific ecosystem. He added that Chile is a natural platform for global astronomy, and that REUNA’s mission is to ensure that the data generated by these large telescopes can travel efficiently, securely, and without interruption to processing and analysis centres around the world. This level of advanced connectivity not only enhances the development of astronomy but also opens new opportunities for international collaboration in science and technology.
The SA3CC meeting also included a technical session by the Vera Rubin Observatory’s network engineering team (8–9 May), which specifically addressed the connectivity challenges posed by operating this next-generation telescope, which will generate 20 terabytes of images per night. To ensure these images reach the data centre in California within just seven seconds from Cerro Pachón (Chile), a complex Long Haul Network (LHN) has been deployed. This network is the result of collaboration among several advanced research networks, including Vera Rubin, REUNA, AmLight, ESnet, rednesp, Florida LambdaRail, Internet2, and RedCLARA.
