Pakistan’s historic lunar mission set to launch today

HENAN: Pakistan’s inaugural lunar mission ICUBE-Q is scheduled to depart at 12:50 pm from China’s Henan Space Launch Site on Friday (today).

The launch will mark a significant milestone in Pakistan’s space exploration efforts. The launch event will be telecast live from the Institute of Space Technology (IST) website.

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The Head of the Electrical Engineering department at Institute of Space Technology (IST) Khurram Khurshid stated that the project was important in Pakistan’s journey towards deep space exploration. He revealed how Pakistan’s proposal was selected by the China National Space Agency (CNSA) from plans submitted by member states of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation (APSCO).

The iCube Qamar satellite was developed in collaboration with China and Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). It features two cameras to capture important pictures from the southern side of the moon.

The mission is part of the joint Chinese-Pakistani lunar exploration initiative Chang’e 6. Chang’e 6 will be Beijing’s second return mission to the moon to retrieve soil and rock samples from the far side of the moon.

ICUBE-Q was led by IST and around 100 students contributed to its development. The project was developed in collaboration with China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). It underwent rigorous design and development, followed by qualification tests conducted by SUPARCO.

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After successful completion of these tests, the satellite was sent to China for further verification. While manufacturing costs were funded by SUPARCO, China provided the major expense of the satellite’s launch free of charge.