Amid the raging land controversy, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) started functioning at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G Madhavan Nair inaugurated classes for 144 students in the four-year B Tech degree in aerospace engineering and avionics and the five-year masters programme in applied sciences.
The institute aims to hone the brightest minds for India ’s ambitious space programme, which is currently facing an acute shortage of brains. ISRO plans to absorb candidates who get a first class every year.
Nair said they would shift to the new campus in Ponmudi hill station, within two years. The institute has deemed university status.