Guwahati: At least 100 science students from each of the eight northeastern states will be given the opportunity to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru under the North East Student Programme for Awareness, Reach and Knowledge on Space (NE-SPARKS) initiative.
The goal of this initiative is to spark their curiosity and promote a greater understanding of space science and technology.
As a part of the initiative, at least 100 science students from each of the eight northeastern states will get an opportunity to visit ISRO in different batches till December 2025.
The first group of science students from the Northeast embarked on a study tour to the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on Monday.
A delegation, comprising 13 students and an accompanying coordinator, was flagged off by Bisheshwar Khumukcham, Additional Director of Education, Manipur, at Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, Imphal.
Notably, the NE-SPARKS initiative, being implemented by the North East Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC), is an outreach programme of the Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
The NE-SAC, located near Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong, is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and the North Eastern Council (NEC) to provide developmental support to the northeastern region (NER) using space science and technology.
The centre has been instrumental in extending space-based technological support to the Northeast in sectors such as natural resource management, infrastructure development, health, education, disaster preparedness, and atmospheric sciences.
The centre has completed a number of application projects sponsored by the user agencies in the region and taken up research and development projects under Earth Observation Applications Mission, ISRO Geo-sphere Biosphere Programme, Satellite Communications, Disaster Management Support and Space Science Programmes.
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The NESAC Society is chaired by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while the ISRO chief is the Chairman of the NESAC Governing Council.
