Space Park work to begin within a week

Thiruvananthapuram: Construction of the ambitious Space Park project at Technopark Phase IV in the capital is set to begin within a week. The cleared 15.06-acre site in Pallippuram is ready and piling of the foundation will begin soon, marking the official launch of the project.

The park is being developed under the auspices of K-Space (Kerala Space Park), with major backing from Nabard. The first phase comprises a common facility centre (CFC) and a research & development centre (RDC), to be built over 3.5 acres within the campus. Completion of the core facilities is scheduled within 30 months.

CEO of K-Space G Levin confirmed to TOI that site preparation is complete and that formal construction will begin shortly. The project has an estimated cost of around Rs 241–244 crore, partly driven by a Nabard loan.

The contract to construct the CFC and RDC has been awarded to Ircon International Ltd, a govt of India engineering firm. These two buildings will accommodate incubation labs, shared test and inspection facilities and innovation zones. In parallel, the remaining land will be developed and leased out for aerospace and space-technology enterprises.

The Space Park is a central piece in Technopark Phase IV's master plan to anchor the campus as a leading hub for advanced technologies. Technocity, the integrated township concept for Phase IV, already envisages supporting not just IT and electronics, but emerging sectors like space, satellite systems, MSME innovation and research and development zones.

The project builds on Thiruvananthapuram's existing strength in space research: the city is home to institutions such as Isro's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and BrahMos Aerospace.

K-Space seeks to stitch together industry, academia and public sector agencies to catalyze high-technology manufacturing, prototyping and research in the state.