Asserting it as a “historic decision & a historical day” in furthering the strength of science in the nation, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated North India’s first-ever Space Centre in Jammu.
Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Science at the Central University of Jammu, this year will offer the first course – B.Tech in Aviation and Aeronautics, with an intake capacity of 60 students.
Why the need is felt for this?
It has come to the notice that most space technology institutes were in the past confined to the Southern States and the only-of-its-kind Indian Institute of Space and Technology imparting Engineering, Aeronautics and other streams were located in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Most of the Space Technology from the last seventy years has been confirmed to South India mostly to the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala which was an anomaly in the spread of the space technology in the country.
The government is steadfast to take space technology to the remote corners of the country which is evident today with the inauguration of the Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Sciences at the Central University of Jammu,” Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said.
According to the Science & Technology Minister, the opening of the Space Centre and India’s second-of-its kind Space Training Institutes in Jammu & Kashmir in 75th years of independence simultaneously marks the march of space journey from Kerala to Kashmir.
The Facility:
The Indian Space Agency – ISRO, in October 2018, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central University of Jammu to set up the centre with facilities for geospatial data analysis, that will aid in sustainable use of natural resources and plan land-use patterns.
The newly-inaugurated centre has ground-based observations for atmospheric studies, a research lab for astrophysics, atmospheric sensing and glacier studies lab for better use of large quantities of water stored in the form of seasonal snow, ice and glaciers in the rivers of North India.
Big boost to Space Technology:
According to Dr Singh, the future of the world will hugely depend on three things – Space Economy, Space Collaboration and Space Diplomacy. Referring to the space economy, he mentioned that India is already receiving revenue worth millions of European Euros and US Dollars through the launching of foreign satellites.
Referring to space collaboration, he cited the example of the SAARC satellite which was visualised and developed on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which caters to the needs of most of the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc.
Addressing the conference on ‘Frontiers of Space Technology and Applications for Humanity’ at CUJ, Dr Singh stressed that with the inauguration of Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Science at the Central University of Jammu, this institute would be an institution for startups in space technology as well, especially in J&K.
The Minister said that the people from this region should use this enormous opportunity to shape their future. Dr Singh added that the Ministry of Science and Technology will start the awareness programs related to Startups across the country from the next month.
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