Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Van Lang told VietNamNet that a cooperation agreement between Vietnam and NASA in space technology development and application will be signed very soon.

Could you tell VietNamNet’s readers about your visit to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA? Is this the first official visit of Vietnam to NASA?

Deputy Minister Lang: This was a Vietnamese group’s first official visit to NASA. From April 19-29, the Vietnamese delegation worked at the NASA headquarters in Washington DC, Goddard Space Centre in Maryland and Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

NASA provided us general information about its 50-year history and space technology-based projects in various fields of life.

The major meaning of this trip is Vietnam wants to show its desire to cooperate with the US in space technology, particularly in applying space technology in social and economic development.

What issues were discussed in this trip?

NASA presented its organization models, research and projects which were implemented or are underway. Vietnam introduced its strategy on research and application of space technology up to 2020 and some projects, the operation of the Vietnam Space Technology Institute, and cooperation with foreign organizations in human resources training and data exchange.

We suggested NASA help Vietnam to build our legal system on space and advise Vietnam in building the Vietnam Space Centre at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Hanoi.

What are the prospects for cooperation between Vietnam and NASA?

NASA has ten research centres, which are funded by nearly $20 billion a year. NASA is the leading organization in the world for space technology research and application . Vietnam can learn from and cooperate with NASA in its fields of interest, such as human resource training, satellite technology, remote sensing technology and space science research.

NASA is willing to cooperate with Vietnam. It plans to send a mission to Vietnam in November 2009 to discuss specific  areas of cooperation. The Vietnam Science and Technology Institute and the Vietnam Space Technology Institute will soon have a cooperation agreement with NASA on developing and applying space technology.

The Vietnamese delegation also visited Mexico. Is there any connection in cooperation between Vietnam, NASA and Mexico?

After interesting working time with NASA, we visited the Mexican National University in Mexico City. This is the largest and most prestigious university in Latin America. It has 270,000 students a year. The university, based on its prestige, will be the intermediary for the Vietnamese space technology sector in cooperation with Mexico and other Latin American countries.

While NASA gave us a general, long-term vision on space technology development, cooperation with Mexico in some specific areas is suitable for the current situation in Vietnam.

During the visit, the Mexico National University agreed to transfer the Vietnam Space Technology Institute a technology to develop small satellites. The transfer will be conducted in September 2009.

What other countries does Vietnam cooperate with to develop space technology?

After the government approved our strategy on research and application of space technology to 2020, the Vietnam Science and Technology Institute signed an agreement with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in June 2006. So far, we have cooperated with Japan, France, South Korea, Europe, India and our ASEAN partners in this field.

Vietnam has cooperated with Japan and France learn to manufacture small satellites and now NASA. Which direction will we follow to develop space technology?

It is the time for us to take initiative in observing, supporting and forecasting national issues related to the space and from outside. That is why the government is determined to carry out the Vietnam Space Technology Centre project in Hoa Lac and the small satellite project (VNREDSat-1) with France.

According to Japanese experts, we can exploit space technology to help cut down economic losses by 10% a year. Losses caused by natural disasters cost us more than $1 billion annually. Thus it is reasonable to invest in space technology.

If we compare spending $350 million for the Hoa Lac space centre with Vietnam’s spending on infrastructure projects, especially the “most expensive road in the planet” project in Hanoi, we will not say that space technology projects are costly. The most important issue related to the development of space technology is raising awareness by the entire society, particularly government agencies.

Looking back to the history of space technology since October 1957, when the USSR launched the first satellite, Sputnik, into outer space, space technology development programs in all powerful countries in the world like Russia, USA, India and China, were launched and directly guided by the chiefs of state.

Therefore, it is necessary to agree that space technology can only develop under the guidance of the government, especially the Prime Minister.