ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is set to launch an indigenously developed satellite next month giving a boost to the space programme of the country.
Foreign Office Spokesperson, Dr Faisal Muhammad said that the satellite would be used for remote sensing and help in research in geography, climate and weather.
Besides this milestone, Pakistan will kick-start an ambitious space programme during the next fiscal year with an aim to keep an eye on the Indian side and reduce its dependence on foreign satellites for civil and military purposes.
https://twitter.com/DrMFaisal/status/1010738517536894976
The satellite named PakTES-1A – is an indigenously developed remote sensing satellite of Pakistan. It will be launched at 610 km sun-synchronous orbit in July 2018.
The satellite weighs 285 kg and will enhance country’s self-reliance capacity and reduce dependence on foreign satellites, mainly the US and French satellites for civil and military communications.
Earlier, China and Pakistan had signed an agreement in 2016 for the launch of a special remote sensing satellite this year in 2018.
The main reason for signing the agreement is to monitor the development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
Under the CPEC many infrastructure projects are under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is now worth $ 62 billion.
The project will link Pakistani Gwadar port to China Xinjiang province.
