Kerala Capital to Host Two-day Global Conclave on Space Tech from Jan 31

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala capital is hosting a two-day international conclave on Space Technology from January 31, where experts and industry leaders from around the world will deliberate on significant transformations brought about by New Technologies and leveraging them for economic and social advancement.

“New Space—Opportunities and way forward” is the theme of the event, to be held at Hotel Raviz at Kovalam beach resort, organised under the aegis of the country’s first Space Park, being developed by the Government of Kerala here with the co-operation of industry and top institutions including Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The meet will explore the paradigm shift in today’s global space industry, estimated to be of USD 250-300 billion size, at a time when large missions are giving way to constellations, big private investments are coming into the domain and innovators and researchers are investing in rapid commercialization of their ideas.

On the demand side, an exponential growth is expected in space tech industry with private consumers looking for services like never before and traditional government-run programmes are likely to be taken up by private organisations.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the two days event on 31st January 2020. During the function, MOUs with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Laboratories for Atmospheric Space Physics (LASP), Colorado and Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) , Austria will be exchanged.

The speakers to address various sessions include G Madhavan Nair, Former Chairman ISRO, S Somnath, Director, VSSC, M C Dathan, Scientific Advisor to CM, Dr Arbinda Mitra, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Dr Gilles Rabin, Director Innovations, CNES Connect, Rakesh Sasibhushan, CMD Antrix, Prof Daniel Baker, University of Colorado, USA, Jasmal Husein Al Zaabal, Consul General, UAE, Catherine Suard, Consul, France and  Sarah Fallon, Head of Science & Innovation British High Commission.

“Space park is conceived based on the inherent strength the state has in the field of Space Industry. The presence of country’s only Space university and nearly 40% of ISRO’s scientific pool makes Thiruvananthapuram a very unique place for Space Industry. Govt. of Kerala wants to promote our capital as the Space City of the Country,” said M Sivasankar, Secretary, IT and Electronics, Government of Kerala.

Main topics to be covered by the meet include “Space industries—opportunities ahead, ” “Investment in space” , “New space legal & regulatory challenges”, “Space data-opportunities ahead” and “Space Tech for Science and Academic missions”. Also, there will be presentations by industry speakers, start-up promoters, interactions and networking sessions.

The delegates will include experts from ISRO, Airbus, CNES, LASP and Space Federation of India. For details visit www.spacepark. Kerala.gov.in/stc. A state-of-the-art Space Technology Park is coming up at Knowledge City here to attract global start-ups working in the space sector and as a major manufacturing hub for space-related technology, research and development.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Knowledge Centre and Space Museum, to be developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), as a befitting memorial to former president and top space scientist, will also be located at the sprawling site, as part of the overall infrastructure of the Space Park.