ISRO Opens Its first Space Tech Incubation Center for Startups
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which has been doing some amazing work – from multiple satellites in space to Mangalayan (Mars mission) to preparing for the Moon mission; is now opening up a Space Tech Incubation Center to encourage start-ups in the space sector. It has been set up in Tripura’s capital Agartala. The center was inaugurated remotely from Bengaluru by ISRO Chairman K. Sivan.
This is being done with an eye to develop innovative indigenous technologies that can aid in future missions. These start-ups are expected to create prototypes of components which can be used for space technology in partnership with industry.
Five more such incubation centers will be opened in Jalandhar, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Trichy and Indore in the near future – each to be set up at a cost of USD 0.3 million (Rs 20 million). Goal is to kick-start a pan-India collaboration of academics, start-ups and industry in space research.
“We don’t want to go to places where space research is already going on. ISRO does not want to concentrate on vertical but horizontal growth of space research. We want to identify untapped potential from across the country for space research,” said ISRO Chairman.
Here is the official tweet from ISRO.
First Space Technology Incubation Centre #STIC was launched (remotely from Bengaluru) today at National Institute of Technology, Agartala, Tripura. #STIC aims to encourage space-related research activities in NE Region. Five more #STICs to come up in phases.#ISROMissions pic.twitter.com/z0IzPF5jzL
— ISRO (@isro) September 18, 2018
Meanwhile, ISRO is also setting up a first of its kind Space Park in Kerala, which will help create start-ups in satellite and space technology.
Also, it is creating regional academic centres for space research at state-run universities. These will come up in Jaipur, Patna, Kanyakumari, Varanasi, Kurukshetra and Guwahati.
Source: Indianweb