Vietnam looks to stars

Expected to be finished in 2020, the 54.4 billion Japanese yen ($697.4 million) centre will be developed into Southeast Asia’s leading well-equipped space centre, according to the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology’s Vietnam National Satellite Centre.

The project’s  46.5 billion yen ($596.1 million) is financed as Japan’s official development assistance- (ODA) based capital. The remaining capital, about $101 million, comes from the Vietnamese government.

Covering nine hectares of land, the centre will include a main building, a centre for assembling and testing small-sized satellites, a satellite signal receiving station, a satellite controlling centre, and a research centre.

Considered key to Vietnam’s strategy of studying and applying space technology, the centre will conduct important missions such as creating and owning technology, producing small satellites to be used in earth observation, building and resolving satellite’s database issues to serve for weather forecast and natural and environment disaster forecasts as well as many other missions such as exploration, radio- television broadcasting and rescue.

According to Japan’s Embassy to Vietnam, the project called for Japan to support Vietnam in developing and monitoring satellites, and human resources training. Vietnam’s satellite No1, to be wholly imported, will be launched in 2017, while the satellite No2, to be made by Vietnam, will be launched in 2020. Detailed design of the centre has been conducted since December 2011 and is expected to be completed in January 2013.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Van Lang said Vietnam could develop a space industry that leads the Southeast Asian region. “This centre can help Vietnam save $1-1.5 billion from losses caused by natural calamities every year.”

The centre is also expected to contribute to a new phase of technology application to solve Vietnam’s daunting tasks in searching for feasible countermeasures for climate change.
Nagase Toshio, a senior representative from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Vietnam, which is the implementing agency of Japan’s ODA projects, said the centre was part of a JICA project named “Disaster and climate change countermeasures using earth observation satellite in Vietnam”.

“Space technology application remains relatively new to Vietnam. However, I strongly believe that with strong commitment, great enthusiasm, high level of intelligence, Vietnamese experts would closely cooperate with Japanese partners to implement the project smoothly. This will help reach our final target, which is to efficiently apply space technology to cope with disaster and climate change,” Toshio said.

Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park located in Hanoi’s Thach That district was founded in 1999, covering 1,600ha. The park targets to develop information technology, especially software development, bio-technology, mechanical-electronic engineering, micro-electronics, new materials and nano technology.