Pakistan launches its first lunar orbit mission

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday launched its first lunar orbit mission (ICUBE-Q) on board China’s Chang’e6 from Hainan, China, according to the Institute of Space Technology (IST).

The satellite has been designed and developed by IST in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO.

The launch activity was telecasted live at 14:27 Pakistan Standard Time (PST) from China and IST Islamabad.

The primary purpose of CubeSats is to facilitate scientific research, technology development, and educational initiatives in space exploration.

This is the first ever attempt by China to collect samples from the far side of the Moon. ICUBE-Q orbiter carries two optical cameras to image the lunar surface.

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Following successful qualification and testing, iCube-Q has now been integrated with the Chang’e 6 mission.

Chang’e 6 is the sixth in a series of China’s lunar exploration missions.

The Chinese mission aims to grab samples containing material ejected from the lunar mantle and thus provide insight into the history of the Moon, Earth and Solar System.

According to the website of the Institute of Space Technology, China’s national space agency allowed Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization member states to send student-built payload to the Moon with its mission.

The Pakistani institution built a device that was selected for the purpose after rigorous evaluation.