Works on Vietnam's national space center will start at the end of this year, with the total investment of US$600 million, VnExpress quoted an official as saying Thursday.

Works on Vietnam's national space center will start at the end of this year, with the total investment of US$600 million, VnExpress quoted an official as saying Thursday.

According to Doan Minh Quang, chief of the Vietnam Space Technology Center, the project will be conducted in cooperation with Japan and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.

Covering nine hectares at Hanoi-based Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, the center will function as a hub for research and for the production of small satellites to meet local demand for weather forecasting, research and rescue missions, the newswire reported.

The center will also address national security purposes, such as observing foreign ships entering Vietnam sovereignty waters, the newswire added.

Vietnam launched its first satellite Vinasat-1 in April 2008 and plans to launch another -- a 150-kilogram earth observation satellite --  in 2014, VnExpress quoted Chung as saying.

The institute, which marked its fifth anniversary on Wednesday, also planned to cooperate with the Belgian-owned SpaceBel for the project on Vietnam's third satellite, VnExpress said.

In 2030, Vietnam will start assembling and controlling satellites, and develop space technology into an important industry, Chung said in the newswire.