Thunder
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There were many reports in the past that the collaboration between China and Pakistan is going on for the advancement and make up of SLV but no real tests so far.
Pakistan is still in the process of developing its own Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, announced in March 2001 that Pakistani scientists were in the process of building the country's first SLV and that the project had been assigned to SUPARCO, Pakistan's national space agency, which also built the Badr satellites.[1] According to Dr. Abdul Majid, chairman of SUPARCO, Pakistan envisaged a low-cost SLV in order to launch lightweight satellites into low-earth orbits.[2] Dr. Khan also cited the fact that India had made rapid strides in the fields of SLV and satellite manufacture as another motivation for developing an indigenous launch capability.[1] According to an Islamabad news source, the SLV would be derived from an already available missile launching system, which may be an indication that technologies acquired for the ballistic missile program would eventually be used to develop an SLV.[2,3] All the experiments necessary to ready the SLV for a complete flight test have not been completed, although Pakistani scientists have tested three of the four stages.[2]
In March 2005, President Pervez Musharaff authorized renewed research and development on an indigenous launch capability, which would be able to orbit a planned domestically built satellite, the Paksat-IR.[4] However, no specific completion date of this project is available, and reports remain unclear as to whether President Musharaff is referring to continuation of the former SLV program or a new launch vehicle project. The country's indigenously manufactured communications satellites Badr-1 and Badr-B were launched on a Chinese Long March rocket in 1990 and a Russian Zenit-2 rocket from Kazakhstan in December 2001, respectively.[5,6]
SUPARCO's headquarters are located in Karachi. Its space launch facilities are located in southern Pakistan at Sonmiani Beach on the Arabian Sea.[7] However, SUPARCO has only launched sounding rockets from this site, referred to as the Flight Test Range (FTR).[7] These facilities are shared with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's National Defence Complex, which uses the site to flight-test solid-fueled ballistic missiles.[8] SUPARCO has a ground station near Islamabad and telemetry, tracking, and control stations located at Sonmiani Beach, Karachi, and Lahore.[9]
[1] Nizamuddin Siddiqui, "Satellite launch vehicle being built: Qadar," Karachi Dawn, March 11, 2001; in "Qadeer Khan: Pakistani scientists active in building Satellite Launch Vehicle," FBIS Document SAP20010311000032.
[2] "Pakistan Badr-B Satellite To Go into Orbit Next Month," The News (Islamabad), March 1, 2001, in FBIS Document SAP20010301000052.
[3] Personal Communication with Gaurav Kampani, Senior Research Associate, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, July 4, 2004.
[4] "Pakistan: Report--Space Agency Asked To Manufacture, Launch Advanced Satellite," The News (Islamabad), March 27, 2005, FBIS Document SAP20050327000006.
[5] "SUPARCO to launch satellite," The Statesman (Peshawar), April 26, 2002; in "Official: Pakistan planning to develop communication, reconnaissance satellites," FBIS Document SAP20020426000082.
[6] "Pakistan's First Satellite Badr-1," Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission website, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/sat_badr1.html.
[7] "Objectives and Outline of Space Programmes," Pakistan Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission website, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/obj.html.
[8] "Missile Facilities: Flight Test Range, Sonmiani Beach," Nuclear Threat Initiative website, http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Pak.../3294_3333.html.
[9] "Establishments," Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission website, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/establishment.htm.
I am highly interested in this topic as well. What are the pakistan capabilities and what are thier future programs. How they are devloping on this front and what are the resources available to them. If some can provide the concrete information please.ali ahmad said:salam to all
did pakistan have a space program?
if yes then whats its status??
and does pakistan have sufficient facilities?
one facility i think in sonmiani..owned by SUPARCO.
ali ahmad said:Musharraf has directed the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission to develop the capability to make and launch different types of satellites, in particular communications, remote sensing and weather satellites,