Vietnam, Israel sign agreement on space technology cooperation
The Vietnam National Satellite Centre and the Israel Space Agency inked an agreement on cooperation in science and technology and peaceful use of outer space, in Hanoi on June 21.
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At the signing ceremony, Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Meirav Eilon Shahar said under the agreement, the two sides will boost cooperation in such areas as earth observation, space industry, and satellite activities.
As a powerful country in terms of science-technology and innovation, Israel is ready to share experience, support and cooperate with Vietnam in science and technology, including space technology, for peaceful purposes, she added.
As part of the ceremony, a discussion was held with a view to looking back on the development of the space sector in Vietnam and encouraging young people’s love for space studies.
Prof. Nguyen Van Hieu said Vietnam is building a space centre and successfully launched several satellites, which are firm strides on the path of developing space science and technology in the country.
He noted that after a Soviet Union-Vietnam joint spaceflight in 1980, a new science-technology sector – remote sensing – was formed and has continually developed over the last 37 years. It has so far reached a very high level and become relatively popular nationwide.
The Vietnamese Government has paid great attention to space technology development. In 2010, the Vietnamese Government decided to work with France’s EADS Astrium SAS to produce and launch a satellite named VNRED-Sat1 to observe natural resources, the environment and natural disasters. This satellite was launched into orbit in 2013.
After the operation time of VNRED-Sat1 is over, the country will continue to launch VNRED-Sat1b.
The Government also decided to cooperate with Japan to build a space centre which is expected to become the most modern of its kind in Southeast Asia after 2020.
