Chhattisgarh Opens First-of-Its-Kind Space Centre in Government School

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Indian Air Force Group Captain and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla on Tuesday launched a rocket built by schoolchildren at a programme held in Rakhi, Nava Raipur.The rocket, designed and assembled by students from Jashpur using cardboard and PVC pipes, was launched by pressing a button, officials said. Representatives of IDYM said it was the first space centre set up in a government school in the country.The event marked the inauguration of Chhattisgarh’s first space centre at the Government Higher Secondary School in Rakhi under Project Antariksh Sangwari, an initiative of the Raipur district administration. Sai and Shukla formally opened the facility and reviewed its infrastructure and ongoing activities.

Developed through a joint effort of the Raipur district administration, IDYM and the SARDA Group, the space centre features a space-qualified clean room, a student satellite laboratory, a ground station and a mission control centre. The facilities are aimed at providing hands-on exposure to students in satellite design, assembly and testing, along with training in signal reception and data decoding.Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Guru Khushwant Saheb, Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap, Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board Chairman Rampratap Singh, MLAs Motilal Sahu, Anuj Sharma and Indra Kumar Sahu, Raipur Collector Gaurav Singh, Municipal Corporation Raipur Commissioner Vishwadeep, IDYM Chairman and co-founder Ratnesh Mishra, Head Officer Shiv Singh Bhadoria and other officials were present at the event.