JERUSALEM (JTA) — A new educational center for space, technology and science named for the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon will be built in central Israel.

The Ramon Campus is a joint project of the Ramon Foundation and Bar Ilan University. A meeting to launch the project was held Thursday at the university.

Ramon was a payload specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated upon reentering the earth’s atmosphere in February 2003.

The Ramon Campus will feature a scientific and educational center aimed at promoting science education, according to a statement released Thursday by Bar Ilan University. It will be located in Modiin, about 20 miles southeast of Tel Aviv.

“Our life is a chain that cannot be disconnected,” said Bar Ilan University President Daniel Hershkovitz, a former minister of Science and Technology. “The Sages say that righteous people never pass away because their influence continues to be felt. This can be said of the late Ilan Ramon, who is a source of inspiration to children, scientists and industry alike.”