The Vietnam Science and Technology Institute and the Vietnam Space Technology Institute on April 8 reported to the government a project to build the Hoa Lac Space Technology Centre.

The plot of land where the centre will be built on.

The total capital for this project totals US $350 million, coming from Japan’s ODA sources. The project will be implemented from 2010 to 2017. The investor is the Vietnam Space Technology Institute and the developer is the Vietnam Science and Technology Institute.

The Hoa Lac Space Center will be built on 9ha of land in the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, in Thach That District, 30km from Hanoi’s centre, 47km from the Noi Bai International Airport and over 100km from the Hai Phong Port. The center will have a space technology operating zone, a small satellite assembly, integration and testing zone, a planetarium, a research and training zone and a ground station to receive data from satellites.

Japanese experts will help Vietnam manufacture a small satellite and apply remote sensing technology to serve economic and social development. With this centre, Vietnam can cut 10% of their losses that are caused by natural disasters, manage oil spills, forest fires, and prevent the illegal exploitation of timber. Besides supervising disasters and managing natural resources, the centre can help Vietnam develop sci-tech and supporting industries.

To serve Vietnam’s strategy of self-manufacturing of satellites, the design tasks and signing of major contracts to build technical facilities, equipment and satellites will be complete by early 2010. The construction will finish in 2017 and training courses will be held in Japan from 2010-2012, and in Hoa Lac from 2013-2017.

The centre will run under the assistance of Japanese experts until 2022. After that, it will be operated by Vietnamese experts.

Mai Loan