Chile is a wonderful natural laboratory of extreme environmental conditions (high altitude, dry and hot desert, warm coast, etc.). For example, some parts of the extreme northern desert are like some Martian landscapes, so prototype rovers are tested regularly in these regions before they are sent to Mars. The northern region is also the ideal place to observe the universe. The clear skies, controlled light pollution, and good transparency make the north of Chile one of the best sites in the world to access the universe, particularly for IR and optical wavelengths.
Some of the biggest astronomical observatories in the world are in this region, such as the Extremely Large Telescope. Moreover, high-altitude sites such as the Chajnantor summit are ideal places for doing astronomy at longer wavelengths, so projects such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array are working on that site. The Chilean scientific community and the government are now taking the next step: the Chilean Space Program. This initiative seeks to install some space monitoring facilities across Chile. One station will be in the Antofagasta region. This initiative is led by the Minister of Science and the Chilean Air Force.