• Construction of dome, civil structures under progress
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shares update

Mysore/Mysuru: In a significant stride towards scientific innovation and advancement, the construction of a state-of-the-art planetarium as part of the Cosmology Education and Research Training Centre (COSMOS) in Mysuru is making remarkable progress.

The cutting-edge facility — a Digistar 7 planetarium — is being constructed on a three-acre land owned by the University of Mysore (UoM) at the foot of Chamundi Hill. The project is being executed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and UoM.

The estimated budget for this ground-breaking project stands at Rs. 86 crore, solidifying the commitment towards its successful implementation. Sharing an update with the media, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the project’s aim is to cultivate interest in outer space and astrophysics among the youths of Karnataka and she has been taking proactive steps to establish a Level-7 Star Gazing Observatory.  

As the first step, Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs. 5 crore from her MPLAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) funds for the project and laid the foundation stone on March 6, 2022. Furthermore, she is playing a crucial role in the development of LIDAR technology in collaboration with Konica Minolta (Japan), RSE-A-Cosmos (France) and Mars Orbit-Animate (India) consortiums.

LIDAR technology is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.

The Finance Minister also shared photos of the columns around the sky theatre that is being constructed, prototype LED panels with magnetic frames undergoing tests at RSA COSMOS France and the photo of load testing that is under progress for the dome structure at the factory in France.

World’s first commercial LED Dome Planetarium

The construction of the LIDAR dome and civil structures is currently in progress and the upcoming 8-K resolution hi-tech 15-metre LIDAR observatory is poised to attain the distinction of being the world’s first LIDAR observatory. In May this year, the IIA placed an order for the world’s first commercial LED Dome Planetarium. The IIA handed over the civil construction of the project to Bengaluru-based RNR Constructions in August this year

While RNR Constructions will undertake the civil works, Kolkata-based Kothari and Associates has been awarded a contract for the architectural work of the campus and building.

The planetarium is scheduled for completion in 2024, housing lecture halls, a museum, administrative offices, scientist and technician facilities, a ticket counter, rest-rooms, a chilling plant, cooling towers, a transformer area, electrical panel rooms, a canteen, parking and more.

The execution of the Cosmos Mysuru project is being steered under the guidance of distinguished scientific advisors including the Principal Scientific Advisor and an advisory board co-chaired by him with supervision from the Ethics Committee.