TN in talks with Chicago's Adler Planeterium to set up Science park in state

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu government is in talks with Chicago's Adler Planetarium to set up a science park in the state which would nurture space exploration among the children.

Adler Planetarium is a public museum in Chicago, Illinois, dedicated to astronomy and astrophysics.

Speaking after the launch of Vaanam Space Tech Accelerator here on Wednesday evening, the minister during a fireside chat with former Indian space research organisation space scientist Nambi Narayan said that the science park near Chennai needs to be upgraded and there is a need for space exploration park for kids. The talks are in an initial stage, he added.

Keeping an eye on the launch of the space port at Kulasekharapatnam in the next two years, the state is keen to develop  a startup ecosystem in the space tech sector. During the launch of Vaanam, the minister said the state was keen on funding the space ecosystem.

Vaanam, as part of its outreach, will reach out to schools and colleges and create ‘Space Clubs’ to inculcate space thinking among students and young people. Workshops will be conducted as part of the club," said Sameer Bharat Ram, co-founder of Vaanam.

He said that Vaanam is evaluating startups and will board six to seven startups in a year.

Vaanam Co-Founder Hariharan Vedamurthy said, "There's a wide gamut of use cases in the space-tech sector in general, say 'from mining satellite data to mining asteroids,' and there's ever-growing demand to bring these use cases to fruition. 

A significant focus will be on space startups and entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu, he said.