Due to thc expansion of Helwan city and the effects of light and atmospheric pollution the quality of astronomical observations was greatly affected and a new site was chosen at Kottamia in the north eastern desert 80Kms movable East of Helwan. The Kottamia Observatory was established in 1962.

The geographical coordinates of the observatory are:

Lat:        29°  55' 48" N
Long:     31° 49' 30" E'
Altitude = 476 meters (msl)

Kottamia started functioning in 1963. The observatory housed a 74 reflecting telescope. The telescope was supplemented with:

- A camera at the Newtonian focus
-A spectrograph at the Cassegrain focus, in the spectral range from 3600 A° to 8000 A°  provided with two cameras of dispersions 100 A°/mm and 48 A°/mm.
-A spectrograph at the Coude' focus provided with two cameras giving dispersions of 6A°/ mn1 and 20 A°/mm.
- A stellar photoelectric photometer at the Cassegrain focus.
- A nebular photoelectric photometer at the Cassegrain focus.
- An Echelle spectrograph at the Cassegrain focus.
- Two Cassegrain cameras provided with image intensifiers.

Kottamia having at least 200 clear nights/year, shared in many international astronomical projects and enjoyed a world reputation. After 30 years of operation, the telescope and its accessories have to be updated, in order to be automated. A new mirror and an aluminizer were obtained. Electronic computers and CCD Cameras were also obtained