VietNamNet Bridge - Binh Duong, HCM City and Dong Nai are being considered by India to set up a satellite tracking station which would allow Vietnam access to images from Indian earth observation satellites.

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Indian Zee News on March 10 quoted a source from the Indian government as reporting that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is considering developing a satellite tracking and imaging center in Vietnam which will benefit the member countries of ASEAN.

Under the project, to be developed as a part of the cooperation on space research between India and ASEAN, all ASEAN member countries will be allowed to access data processed specifically for them.

Meanwhile, Vo Hong Son, deputy director of the National Sensing Agency’s Southern Remote Sensing Center, said the project was under the control of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and that it is involved in the fact-finding process.

Under the project, to be developed as a part of the cooperation on space research between India and ASEAN, all ASEAN member countries will be allowed to access data processed specifically for them.

Son said the Indian side has conducted surveys of the locations for the satellite tracking station. At first, Indian specialists thought this could be somewhere in Binh Duong province or HCM City, but later, they considered Dong Nai province. 

“The initial survey process has finished. It is highly possible that they would choose Binh Duong as the location for the station,” Son said.

The official went on to say that it has been a long time since the project kicked off. However, the next steps of the projects depend on the Indian side.

The major aim of the station is regulating the orbits of Indian satellites; however, it would also benefit Vietnam and other ASEAN countries. 

“The sharing of the images to be collected by the station would be implemented in accordance with an agreement signed among involved parties,” he said.

According to Ngo Duy Tan, deputy director of the Small Satellite Control and Operation Center, the station will process related data and share the data with ASEAN’s countries. Therefore, ASEAN’s member countries will have to meet and discuss the way to share information.

However, Tan said no agreement about the information sharing has been reached.

If the station is set up in Vietnam, he said, Vietnam would have more infrastructure facilities and sources of images, while it would be able to learn experience and technique from India. With more information to be collected, it would be able to strengthen relations and cooperation with regional countries and train the labor force in the field.

ASEAN’s countries can use the images to be provided to them for different purposes, civil and military ones. As for Vietnam, the images will help monitor the East Sea’s situation.

“This will be very useful, especially when our source of images remains limited,” he said.

Dat Viet