Satish Dhawan centre for Space sciences was inaugurated by the Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh in the presence of elite scientists in the Central University Jammu on Saturday.
The Union Minister described this as a historic decision and said that most of space technology institutes were in the past confined to Southern States and the only-of-its-kind Indian Institute of Space and Technology imparting Engineering, Aeronautics and other streams was located in Thiruvananthapuram. The opening of the Space Centre and the 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 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and at the same time naming it as Satish Dhawan Centre is befitting tribute to one of the founding-fathers of Indias’ Space programme who hails from Jammu & Kashmir.
Chairman ISRO, Somnath S said that space technology now is an integral part of life and safety and security of this nation will depend on how strong the nation is going to be in the space sector. The chairman further said that the communication revolution which is important in many ways like in the growth of industries, space has to be behind it.The Minister said that the future of the world will hugely depend on the upcoming 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 needs of most of the neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, etc.
The Minsite said the credit entirely goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for unlocking space technology and opening it to private players.Dr.Jitendra Singh said that sixty students will be taken in the course of B. Tech in Aviation and Aeronautics through this institute through JEE in order to build this institute into one of the premier institutes in the country.
Former Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K Radhakrishnan in his address said that when India has become a role model for the rest of the world in terms of Space Technology, Satish Dhawan is a reverential role model for the students. Dr. Sam Dayala Dev, Director, IIST, Dr. Y V.N Krishnamurthy, Registrar, IIST, Sudheer Kumar N, Director, CBPO, Prakash Chauhan, Director, IIRS, Dr.Kuruvella Joseph, Dr. Amit Kumar Patra, Prof. Sanjeev Jain, Vice Chancellor, Central University Jammu besides other scientists and staff were present in the conference.