Country’s first ocean satellite ground station opened at CU
The country’s first and only ‘China-Bangladesh Ocean Satellite Ground Station’, whose institutional name is ‘Satellite Ocean Observation and Data Innovation Center’, has started its journey at Chittagong University (CU).
Those concerned believe that it will play an important role in Bay of Bengal-centered research, fisheries management, disaster forecasting and implementation of the blue economy.
The Ocean Satellite Ground Station, set up next to the Marine Science Institute, was inaugurated on Tuesday.
Those concerned say that once it is launched, important information related to the ocean and weather will be available within just 15 to 20 minutes. Barrister Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, State Minister for Land and Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh, Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Professor Dr. Mamun Ahmed, Professor Dr. Mohammad Al-Forkan and other guests were present there.
Experts said that for a long time, Bangladesh lacked the capacity to collect its own real-time satellite data for high-quality research on the Bay of Bengal. Delays in collecting data from foreign sources, limited access, and low resolution issues hampered research activities.
To overcome these limitations, this project has been implemented as a joint initiative of Chittagong University and the Second Institute of Oceanography (SIO) of China. Discussions began between the two institutions in 2019 and a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2020. Later, through various stages of visits and technical discussions, it was decided to set up the station at CU in 2024.
Infrastructure construction began on March 26, 2025, and currently the work of developing the necessary software and algorithms for data collection is almost complete.
The main objective of the station is to create skilled manpower in satellite and remote sensing-based ocean research and to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country by using the research data. This ground station has been connected to about 11 satellites.
