The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology is a government-funded and designated institution specialising in space science research and study in Valiamala, Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
It is Asia's first institution dedicated completely to the study and research of extraterrestrial phenomena. G. Madhavan Nair, the then-Chairman of ISRO, opened the facility on September 14, 2007.
TheIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is part of the Indian government's Department of Space, established IIST. IIST was founded by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, India's former President. IIST offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral engineering programs with a focus on space science, technology, and applications.
The Institute of Space Studies began operations on September 14, 2007, at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre(VSSC) campus in Thiruvananthapuram, with an initial investment of 270 crores and an annual recurring cost of 40 crores from the Department of Space.
It is India's first institute of its sort, offering a B.Tech degree in Space Technology as well as topics related to space science and technology. The institute was founded by B. N. Suresh, the former director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
The institute began operations in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala, at the ATF Campus, which is part of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The thickly wooded campus of 100 acres on the foothills of the Sahyadri blends well with the modern ecologically friendly buildings of unique architecture.
Dr Manmohan Singh, the then-Indian Prime Minister, inaugurated a cutting-edge residential campus at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in Valiamala, Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram, on August 25, 2009.
The institute began operations on its new campus on August 15, 2010. An observatory has been built on the campus amid Thiruvananthapuram's scenic Ponmudi Hills.
On the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Union Human Resource Development Ministry granted the institute deemed university status for a five-year period on July 14, 2008.
