Kerala to set up India's first space tech park in Thiruvananthapuram

The Kerala government will set up the country’s first space tech park at Thiruvananthapuram's Knowledge City. The move is aimed at making the city a manufacturing hub for space-related technology.

A space museum named after former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam will also be a part of the infrastructure. The state government has issued orders to allot the land required for the facility. This will be an added attraction. The entire investment will be made by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The government will lease 20.01 acres of land to the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL) to develop the space park. Of this, 16.07 acres, now having SEZ status, will be de notified by KSITIL. 

Primarily a manufacturing hub for companies using GIS and other data systems, the integrated complex will also have a startup incubator, accelerators including Airbus Bizlab, skill training systems and production units.

KSITIL, the agency mandated to develop IT infrastructure in the state, will hand over required land to ISRO to set up Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Knowledge Centre and Space Museum, through a lease agreement.

The government had earlier allotted 1.75 acres of land at Kowdiar in the city to VSSC for the museum. Later, VSSC informed the government of the restrictions in taking up world class construction on that land and requested for an alternative site for the project. 

“With the space park materialising, Kerala capital will become a key hub of space technology in the country”, said M Sivasankar, Secretary, Electronics and IT, government of Kerala. He added that the space park was being set up to leverage the opportunities provided by Space 2.0 and to generate lots of high tech jobs. 

Apart from VSSC, some other major centres of ISRO are also located in and around the city. Together with the space park, they will help create a robust ecosystem for space technology applications and research, Abdul Kalam museum being another attraction, he added.

CEO of Kerala government owned ICT Academy, Santhosh Kurup, has been appointed as the special officer of the space park project.

KSITIL, as a co-developer of the project, will collect a premium from the companies taking up space in the complex.