The Vietnam National Space Centre (VNSC) will start the pilot run of its observatory and space centre in Hanoi’s Hoa Lac high-tech park in June, 2018.

The observatory is equipped with a space telescope of 0.5m in diameter inside a dome that is 12m in diameter. The dome can accommodate up to 100 people who can observe space or watch movies about planets, stars and history of the earth.

VNSC Director Associate Prof. Dr. Pham Anh Tuan said the observatory will serve basic studies on optical astrophysics, and disseminate knowledge of the universe in the community.

The VNSC is designing a program to introduce astrophysics to secondary and high school students as part of their tour around the space facility.

The observatory is one of the two observatory projects in Vietnam, costing a total of 120 billion VND (5.3 million USD). The other one is placed on Hon Chong islet in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa.