Nagaland is already using satellite imagery, remote sensing and drones for landslide assessment, flood mapping, land-use planning and terrain modelling, even as the Northeast prepares to discuss how the region can take a larger role in India’s space economy.
The discussion will take place at the Northeast India Space Workshop 2026 in Guwahati on August 26 and 27, where government, industry, startups, academia and investors are expected to discuss the development of space-enabled applications and commercial opportunities in the region.
The workshop is being organised by the Space Industry Association of India (SIA-India) in partnership with the North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC).
For Nagaland, the discussion comes with an existing institutional base.
The Nagaland State GIS & Remote Sensing Centre (NGISRSC) under the Planning & Transformation Department is the State’s nodal agency for remote sensing, GIS, photogrammetry, IT and UAV applications.
Its work includes the use of drones for disaster assessment. NGISRSC has carried out UAV surveys of landslides, including along NH-29 near Phesama, as well as flood-inundation surveys in Dimapur and Kohima.
The Centre has also worked with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) on the Satellite Integrated Landslide Assessment & Alert System (SILAAS). Its project records include post-monsoon landslide mapping and flood-vulnerability assessment.
Satellite data is also being used for planning beyond disaster management.
The Nagaland GIS Centre has developed the Nagaland State Land Use Information System, using LISS-III and Cartosat satellite imagery along with Survey of India maps to generate land-use and land-cover information.
Another project involving ISRO has focused on developing a 1:10,000-scale digital elevation model of Nagaland, using high-resolution satellite imagery to support three-dimensional visualisation of the State’s terrain and planning applications.
NESAC has separately undertaken work in Nagaland on landslide susceptibility mapping, bamboo-resource mapping and shifting cultivation and its sustainable development.
The State has also developed spatial-data infrastructure for government use, including collaboration between NGISRSC and NESAC on the North Eastern Spatial Data Repository (NeSDR).
The existing applications show that satellite and aerial technologies are already being used in Nagaland for practical government purposes, from assessing disaster-affected areas to understanding land use and terrain.
The question now being raised at the regional level is whether such existing capabilities can support a wider ecosystem involving research institutions, startups and private industry.
