Sri Lanka was in the process of designing, developing and launching of its own small earth observation satellite and the project would commence once the funds were allocated, Science and Technology Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said.

Minister ranawaka expressed these views while addressing a seminar for representatives of ‘Countries that Forecast and Study Drought through Space Technology’ at Mount Lavinia Hotel today.

“Space technology, indeed, is one of those strategic technologies.There are several important initiatives pertaining to development of space technologies and their applications that have been planned to be implemented to during the next few years, with some of the activities already in progress,” Minister Ranawaka said.

Minister Ranawaka said the project proposal developed by the Arthur C Clarke institute for modern technologies for this purpose had already been submitted to the Government, and the project activities would commence as soon as the fund allocations were finalized.