India to set up ground satellite station in Vietnam
India is surveying two locations in HCM City and Binh Duong Province to place a remote sensing station under a framework of cooperation with ASEAN countries.
As the Indian media reported that New Delhi would soon activate a ground satellite station in Vietnam, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has said that this is a project for "establishing stations for probe, satellite data collection and remote sensing data processing facility for ASEAN," based in Vietnam, in the framework of cooperation between ASEAN and India.
"The details such as the place, the time and specific design are being discussed by Vietnam and India," the source from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said, adding that India has surveyed two locations in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong, but the decision has not been made yet.
The construction of the satellite station will enable Vietnam to learn the techniques and experience of remote sensing from India. The country will also have more data sources, strengthen close cooperation with other countries in the region, and have access to training for its human resources in this field.
The project was approved with a total budget of US$23 million taken from the ASEAN - India Cooperation Fund, including the following key objectives: to promote cooperation in the field of space science and technology between ASEAN and India; set up stations for probe, data acquisition, and remote sensing data processing; and provide remote sensing data from the available and future remote sensing satellites of India.
As expected, construction of facilities and equipment installation will be carried out in 24 months. India will provide the cost of construction and operation in the first five years of the center for data acquisition and processing. India's remote sensing products will be provided for free to the ASEAN countries in five years.
Experts said that India has two stations in Indonesia and Brunei and one more in Vietnam in the coming time. These stations will facilitate the exploration, collection of data and monitoring of environmental resources in the region.
In May 2015, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment met with the Foreign Ministry and the Agency for Space Research of India on the implementation of this project.