The ISRO radar facility at Chandrapur near Guwahati took a major step forward on September 21 after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma performed the Bhumi Pujan and laid its foundation stone. The facility is being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).
The project will form part of ISRO’s Project NETRA, or Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis. It is designed to strengthen India’s ability to track objects in space and improve monitoring of satellites and other space assets.
ISRO radar facility marks new phase for Assam
The ISRO radar facility is being established as an advanced research and space surveillance centre. It will use radar systems and optical technologies to track objects in orbit and generate information for space monitoring.
The Chandrapur project is significant because it adds a major national space infrastructure facility to Assam. According to reports, the centre is the first facility of its kind in the Northeast focused on space surveillance.
Sarma described the foundation ceremony as an important development for Assam’s scientific and technological infrastructure. He also thanked the central government and ISRO leadership for selecting the state for the project.
Project NETRA will strengthen space tracking
The ISRO radar facility will operate under Project NETRA, which aims to improve India’s space situational awareness. The programme focuses on tracking satellites, space debris and other objects that move around Earth.
This capability has become increasingly important as the number of satellites and other objects in orbit continues to grow. Accurate tracking can help identify objects, support collision-avoidance efforts and improve awareness of activity in space.
The Chandrapur centre will therefore become part of a wider network supporting India’s efforts to monitor the space environment. ISRO is also developing other facilities under NETRA, including an optical telescope project at Hanle in Ladakh.
Radar technology will support wider research
The facility will not only focus on tracking objects. Reports indicate that its radar systems will also support research and provide data for government and scientific institutions.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said the Chandrapur facility is planned as a world-class centre. He also said a cloud radar is expected to be commissioned before the end of February, while two more important radars are planned within another year and a half.
These systems could expand the scientific uses of the centre while strengthening India’s ground-based space monitoring capabilities.
Assam provides land for the ISRO radar facility
The Assam government has provided land for the ISRO radar facility at Chandrapur. Chief Minister Sarma said the state had given around 200 bighas, or nearly 70 acres, to ISRO free of cost for the project.
ISRO’s 2025–26 annual report records a 67-acre site at Chandrapur for the NETRA radar. It states that the Memorandum of Transfer was executed in November 2023 and final registration of the land was completed on November 7, 2025.
The site was earlier associated with a thermal power station. Its selection now brings a major national research project to the area near Guwahati.
Chandrapur expands Assam’s space research role
The ISRO radar facility is expected to give Assam a larger role in India’s expanding space research infrastructure. The project also adds to the state’s presence in national scientific and technology initiatives.
For ISRO, the centre will provide another location for collecting and analysing data about objects in space. For Assam, it represents an opportunity to host advanced scientific infrastructure outside the country’s traditional space research centres.
The foundation ceremony has now formally moved the Chandrapur project into its next phase. As construction and installation progress, the facility is expected to strengthen India’s space surveillance network while bringing advanced radar research capabilities to the Northeast.
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