  A strongly coupled ultracold plasma can be used as an excellent test platform
for studying many-body interactions associated with various plasma phenomena.
In this paper we discuss an approach that makes possible creation of the
steady-state ultracold plasma having various densities and temperatures by
means of continuous two-step optical excitation of calcium atoms in the MOT.
The parameters of the plasma are studied using laser-induced fluorescence of
calcium ions. The experimental results are well described by a simple
theoretical model involving equilibration of the continuous source of charged
particles by the hydrodynamical ion outflux and three-body recombination. The
strongly coupled plasma with the peak ion density of $6\cdot10^5$ cm$^{-3}$ and
the minimum electron temperature near 2 K has been prepared. Our steady-state
approach in combination with the strong magnetic confinement of the plasma will
make it possible to reach extremely strong coupling in such system.
