Vietnam launches construction of national satellite center

  A groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the Vietnam Satellite Center was held at Hoa Lac High-tech Park in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Wednesday. The center, scheduled to be completed by 2020, is built in line with the country's strategy on research and application of satellite technology, and expected to become the most modern center of this kind in Southeast Asia. The center will provide basic facilities to carry out research, training, application and international cooperation in satellite technology between Vietnam and its foreign partners, addressed Prof. Dr. Chau Van Minh, president of the Vietnam Academy for Science and Technology (VAST), which is entrusted by the Vietnamese government to chair and coordinate with relevant agencies to implement the strategy, including construction of the satellite center. Built on a 9-hectare area (90 square kilometers), the satellite center costs a total investment of 700 million U.S. dollars, of which 590 million U.S. dollars comes from Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the rest comes from Vietnam's corresponding fund. The project will be built into three major categories, including construction of infrastructure and equipment installment, a center to assemble and testing for small satellites, satellite signal receiving station, research and training center, satellite museum and weather station; Two domestically-made small satellites for the earth observation; and training for about 350 scientists and high-level managers in satellite technology.