Assam: Minister Keshab Mahanta meets ISRO chief Dr. S.P. Somnath
ISRO to set up space object tracking centre at Chandrapur
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under the Department of Space is going to set up a Network of Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) centre at Chandrapur on the outskirts of Guwahati. It is the first of its kind in the northeastern region. The state government is ready to provide all logistical support for this centre. It has already allotted 200 bighas of land for the proposed NETRA centre.
Assam Science and Technology Minister Keshab Mahanta visited the ISRO headquarters, Antariksh Bhavan, in Bengaluru today. Senior officials of the Science and Technology Department and ASTEC (Assam Science, Technology, and Environment Council) accompanied him.
During his visit, Mahanta interacted with ISRO chairman Dr. S.P. Somnath and other senior scientists on the proposed NETRA centre at Chandrapur. The minister assured the ISRO authorities that the state government would extend all possible support for the setting up of the proposed NETRA centre in Chandrapur.
“At the outset, let me extend my sincere gratitude to you, ISRO, and the Department of Space for the decision to set up NETRA in Assam, for which necessary land, measuring 200 bighas, has already been allotted to you with the approval of the honourable Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Mahanta handed over a missive to the IRSO Chairman.
The highlights of the setting up of the NETRA centre, according to the Department of Science and Technology, Assam, will be (i) building observational capabilities to track space objects through a network of in-house tracking facilities; (ii) establishing a centralised mechanism for processing observations, cataloguing, assessment of space situation, and timely dissemination of SSA information to safeguard national space assets, (iii) the Phased Array Radar at Chandrapur, Assam, is capable of detecting 10 cm space objects at ranges up to 2000 km. It is designed and built indigenously and operated through ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network), with an investment of approximately Rs 1,000 crore, realising the dream of Assam and the Northeast to have an ISRO Centre.
The NETRA centre is going to have provisions to allow students from the region to have opportunities for internships, training, skill development, etc.
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