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The BaR-SPOrt (Balloon-Borne Radiometers for Sky Polarization Observations) experiment, a program of the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) co-funded by PNRA (Progetto Nazionale di Ricerca in Antartide) was originally designed as a payload for long duration balloons flights. The changing scenario, both scientific and strategic, has led us to propose it for the starting winter campaign of at the Concordia Base. Here the instrument and the features making it suitable to operate at Dome-C are described. After the initial setup, BaR-SPOrt should not require any kind of routine intervention by a dedicated base staff. The experiment will just need electrical power (less than 2 kW) and a suitable accommodation on the field. It can be fully monitored and controlled, including the data acquisition, through its own telemetry/telecommand link using IRIDIUM modems. Both the receiver and the critical electronics are housed inside a temperature-controlled vacuum chamber, providing the properly stabilized environment. The cold part of the radiometer employs a closed loop mechanical cryo-cooler that provides temperatures < 70 +/- 0.1 K with low power consumption (< 200 W).

The BaR-SPOrt experiment is designed to measure the E -mode power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization (CMBP) in the multipole range 50 l < 1000. In the current configuration at 32 GHz it can explore up to l = 400. Recent low frequency observations of the target region show that the synchrotron emission should not contamine the CMBP already at 32 GHz. A 6-month observation of a 6° × 6° sky area during the polar night, in ideal environmental conditions, will allow the Italian-French collaboration to both measure the E –mode power spectrum with appropriate sensitivity and perform important tests of the anomalous dust emission. The BaR-SPOrt 32 GHz instrument, now under test and ready for operations by Spring 2005, is proposed for 1–2 years Winter operations at Dome C.

SPOrt is an ASI-funded experiment specifically designed to measure the sky polarization at 22, 32 and 90 GHz, which was selected in 1997 by ESA to be flown on the International Space Station. Starting in 2006 and for at least 18 months, it will be taking direct and simultaneous measurements of the Stokes parameters Q and U at 660 sky pixels, with FWHM=7 degrees. Due to development efforts over the past few years, the design specifications have been significantly improved with respect to the first proposal. Here we present an up-to-date description of the instrument, which now warrants a pixel sensitivity of 1.7 microK for the polarization of the cosmic background radiation, assuming two years of observations. We discuss SPOrt scientific goals in the light of WMAP results, in particular in connection with the emerging double-reionization cosmological scenario., 53 pages, 22 figures, 1 reference replaced