HS-1 is Pakistan's first hyper-spectral satellite which is equipped with advanced hyperspectral imaging sensors capable of capturing data across hundreds of narrow spectral bands. The satellite lifted off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on a Kinetica-1 rocket. It is expected to boost Pakistan's national capacities in areas such as precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster management. Its high-resolution data will support improved resource management and strengthen Pakistan’s resilience to climate-related challenges.
Though the HS-1 satellite is primarily aimed at civilian applications, it will also have significant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability for military applications. It is much more advanced than Pakistan's PRSS-1 satellite launched in 2018 which senses objects on earth in the optical RGB (Red-Green-Blue) range. The HS-1's high-resolution data will support improved resource management and assist the Pakistani military's efforts to monitor events on the ground.
In addition to the HS-1 satellite, Pakistan has signed a $406 million deal with China’s PIESAT for a constellation of over 20 imaging and communication satellites, a move that signals a profound shift in its strategic posture, according to defense site Quwa. The deal includes a full transfer-of-technology (ToT) for in-country satellite manufacturing. It is poised to provide the Pakistani military with a sovereign, persistent imaging intelligence (IMINT) capability. Here's an excerpt from the Quwa website:
"While PIESAT’s official data states a resolution of 0.5 meters, Chinese media reports indicate a larger 54-satellite version of the constellation could achieve a global revisit rate of just 60 minutes. For Pakistan, its initial 20-satellite acquisition implies a clear intent to establish a persistent regional surveillance net with revisit rates well under one day, fundamentally changing its ability to monitor adversary movements".
Space science is a lot more than rocket science. It goes well beyond building booster rockets for satellite launches. It includes various fields like physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, and engineering to study phenomena in space and collect and analyze data about activities on earth. Pakistan-China space cooperation is yet another confirmation of the close and growing scientific ties between the two countries. Tens of thousands of Pakistani students are currently attending Chinese universities which are among the best in the world. Thousands of Pakistani engineers and scientists are closely working with their Chinese counterparts on multiple projects. It is a great opportunity for Pakistanis to learn from astounding scientific and technological achievements of their Chinese counterparts.
Chinese researchers dominate global AI research, according to Marco Polo which tracks global AI talent. China dominates the top 10 science institutions, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and Tsinghua University taking the top three spots, according to the Science Journal Nature. Only two non-Chinese institutions broke into the top 10 – the Max Planck Society in Germany at No 4 and the French National Center for Scientific Research at No 10. The top three US institutions – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Stanford University – were ranked at 13th, 16th and 20th, respectively.
Analysts believe that China's real focus is on industrial applications for Artificial Intelligence (AI) rather than chatbots like ChatGPT or DeepSeek. Chinese are working to use the underlying technology to develop affordable, commercially viable business solutions, according to Jacob Dreyer who recently wrote an article for science journal Nature. "Its applications can then be exported, especially to lower-income countries. In other words, China’s target is not necessarily ‘frontier AI’, but ‘mass-market AI’. Its emerging AI playbook mirrors its approach to other technologies, such as electric vehicles and clean energy: not the first to innovate, but the first to make them affordable for widespread use".
Related Links:
Pakistani Military Launches Defense AI Program
Pakistani Students Enrollment in US Colleges and Universities Soaring
Digital Pakistan 2022: Broadband Penetration Soars to 90% of 15+ Population
STEM Enrollment in Pakistan Exceeds One Million
Digital Public Infrastructure in Pakistan
Pakistanis Mini Invasion of China
Is Pakistan Ready for the AI Revolution?
Growing Presence of Pakistani Women in Science and Technology
Riaz Haq's Youtube Channel
China launches new set of Yaogan-40 satellites into polar orbit
ReplyDeletehttps://spacenews.com/china-launches-new-set-of-yaogan-40-satellites-into-polar-orbit/
Yaogan (“remote sensing”) satellites are thought to be for users including military customers, with uses thought to include optical imaging, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) satellites.
Few details, if any, are available about the satellites. They are typically described as being for purposes including land survey, crop yield estimation, environmental management, meteorological warning and forecasting, and disaster prevention and reduction or “electromagnetic environment detection and related tests.”
The Saturday mission was China’s 52nd orbital launch of the year, keeping it on course to surpass a national record of 68 launches in a calendar year, set in 2024. This number includes one failure, suffered by commercial launch service provider Landspace in August.
Congratulations to all Pakistanis. Considering the SUPARCO has been around since early 60s this should have happened a long time ago and we should have been far ahead at this point. So what happened?
ReplyDeleteA while back I was having a discussion with an Ex-SUPARCO employee and I posted the same question. His answer was that Pakistan made a mistake by putting SUPARCO under defense department, so when sanctions were put on Pakistan it effected SUPRCO too.
Btw, don't you think US$406 million could be better used to develop our own space program?
Zamir
Sir this is exactly what I have been saying since last several years or months.
DeleteThe downfall of SUPARCO( Space Agency of Pakistan) actually started as soon as the President of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto changed the priority of Pakistan from space progress, development and advancement to the development of nuclear program to strengthen the Defence of the country in 1970s or in 1980s.
Actually when in 1974 or some where in 1970s India conducted its nuclear bomb test. Soon after this government of Pakistan felt inferiority complex and realized that being a smaller country than India, Pakistani government and military both felt threat from India, so the President Bhutto decided to switch the priority of the country from space programs and it's advancement or development to strengthening of Defence sector.
Upon the orders of the President, many scientists who were working in SUPARCO( Space Agency of Pakistan) actually were shifted to Atomic Commission of Pakistan where they had to study about the development of nuclear bombs and I think they even studied nuclear physics.
So after this to fill the gap, military took over SUPARCO and started running it.
Pls note that in 1960s SUPARCO was under the administration of Scientists and this is why it was making great progress at that time.
In order to make sure that SUPARCO again gets back on the track of progress and advancement, it's imperative that it should be placed under a scientist who has very good knowledge and exposure of astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.
Thanks
Ahmed, just saw your post. I am not sure when was SUPARCO transferred to MoD. However, you are mistaken about Pakistan's nuclear program. Bhutto started working on it when he was in Ayub Khan cabinet. His famous quote about eating grass was uttered when he was Ayub's FM.
DeleteHe became the president in December 1971 and called the meeting of Pakistani scientists in early 1972. The meeting was originally supposed to be in Quetta but was changed to Multan for logistic reasons. After India's 74 explosion the program gained momentum. There is a very interesting book "eating the grass making the bomb". You should read it.
Zamir
Zamir: “don't you think US$406 million could be better used to develop our own space program?”
ReplyDeleteThe PIESAT deal is part of Pakistan’s efforts to build its domestic space program. Please read below:
PIESAT Pakistan refers to the large-scale agreement between China's PIESAT Information Technology and Pakistan for developing an integrated satellite system, which includes a $406.4 million deal for a constellation of over 20 satellites, a manufacturing facility in Pakistan, and a technology transfer. The partnership aims to enhance Pakistan's capabilities in real-time communication, remote sensing, and disaster management, with the first phase focusing on launching and operating 20 satellites and building the necessary infrastructure.
This video explains the significance of China launching Pakistan's advanced satellite:
https://youtu.be/s4-h9yGXwVM?si=V508V9hJceHHzKmO
China Launches Pakistan’s First Hyperspectral Satellite — What It Means for Defence and Intelligence
ReplyDeletehttps://quwa.org/pakistan-defence-news/china-launches-pakistans-first-hyperspectral-satellite-what-it-means-for-defence-and-intelligence/
On 19 October 2025, China’s Jiaquan Satellite Launch Station sent into orbit Pakistan’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite, HS-1.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) framed the launch of the HS-1, to be managed by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), as a significant step in Pakistan-China space cooperation. According to MOFA, the HS-1’s imaging data will be used to support “precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, urban planning, and disaster management.”
HS-1 now joins Pakistan’s growing constellation of Earth-observation satellites, which also includes the recently launched PRSC-EO1 and PRSC-S1, which provide electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) coverages, respectively, providing a multi-modal imaging capability.
Together, this imaging triad will enable Pakistan to flag potential activity at day and night, under all weather conditions via PRSC-S1; the HS-1 would help with determining what potential objects of interest could be (e.g., false positives or actuals); and PRSC-EO1 would provide precise context and reporting of that area.
Overall, the new imaging constellation will contribute to the cadence, reliability, and sovereign control of Pakistan’s space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
Good job.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the most amazing reaction to this came from our eastern neighbors on the social media.
Never understand their mindset, such losers.
G. Ali
ReplyDeleteDear Sir and entire team of this blog.
Congratulations to all Pakistanis whether living in Pakistan or abroad for this great scientific achievement.
Masha Allah very good news, not only this space program of SUPARCO can benefit the agricultural sectors and environment of Pakistan but it can also play an important role in defence and security of the country.
1 important point, Pakistan can also use this satelite based on advance technology of hyperspectral to provide services to other neigbhouring countries. Like Sri Lanka and Nepal pe agar India attack karta hai yah Sri Lanka aur Nepal ko koe security threat feel ho, toh Pakistan kee government aur SUPARCO mil kar Nepal aur Sri Lanka kee governments ke sath collaborate karey aur in countries kee land aur airspace ko apni satelite based defence aur security ke umbrella ke under lee aee. Aur per year yah per month jo security related services jo yah satelite Nepal aur Sri Lanka ko provide karey ous kee fees yah charges Pakistan kee government leti rahey from the government of these countries.
Also Pakistani government along with SUPARCO can have an agreement with Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka and provide them important information about weather and temperature to the agricultural sectors of these countries and earn money from them.
Dear Sir
ReplyDeleteI was reading about hyper spectral technology and their are total 10 countries in the world including America, China, Brazil and even India which has this technology.
Sir in 2008 ISRO( Indian Space and Research Organization) launched its 1st hyper spectral satellite in space.
Sir I am sorry to say but don't you think that Pakistan is too late in trying to catch up or keep pace with India in this race of satellite advancement and launching?
Thanks
Ahmad: “Sir in 2008 ISRO( Indian Space and Research Organization) launched its 1st hyper spectral satellite in space”
ReplyDeleteIndia’s first hyperspectral satellite HySIS 1 was launched in 2018, not 2008. No further HS launches have been done by ISRO since then.
In January 2025, India's Google-backed space tech startup Pixxel launched three of its six hyperspectral imaging satellites aboard a (Elon Musk-owned) SpaceX rocket from California.
SUPARCO, NTC join forces to boost satellite-backed digital connectivity across Pakistan
ReplyDeleteNew partnership links space and telecom networks to expand secure, nationwide communication and digital services under “Satellite-Powered Digital Pakistan” vision
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2025/11/25/suparco-ntc-join-forces-to-boost-satellite-backed-digital-connectivity-across-pakistan/
Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) have formalised a strategic partnership to enhance the country’s satellite-based communication and IT infrastructure through a Memorandum of Understanding signed on Tuesday.
The agreement, concluded at NTC Headquarters in Islamabad, was witnessed by Chairman SUPARCO Mohammad Yousuf Khan and NTC Managing Director Major General Ali Farhan, along with senior officials and technical teams from both organisations.
Under the MoU, NTC will gain access to Geo Communication Satellites to strengthen its nationwide connectivity network, while SUPARCO will leverage NTC’s terrestrial infrastructure to deliver satellite services more efficiently. These include satellite communications, satellite imagery, geospatial solutions, cloud services, and secure digital platforms.
The collaboration is designed to support Pakistan’s broader national objective of advancing a “Satellite-Powered Digital Pakistan” by integrating the technical strengths of both institutions to expand high-quality digital and satellite-enabled services, particularly in remote and underserved regions.
Officials said the partnership will improve mission-critical communication, digital security, and data accessibility, marking an important step toward building domestic capacity in space and telecommunication technologies and making advanced digital services more reliable and widely available across the country.
AI Overview
ReplyDeletePakistan Launched Two Observation Satellites in One Week ...
Pakistan's space agency, SUPARCO, launched a new Earth Observation Satellite (likely PRSS-2 or similar) with China's help in late 2025 (around December 25th) to boost remote sensing for agriculture, disaster management, and urban planning, enhancing capabilities established by earlier satellites like PRSS-1 (2018) and the indigenous PRSC-EO1 (January 2025). This ongoing collaboration with China provides high-resolution imagery for CPEC monitoring and climate studies, marking a key step in Pakistan's self-reliance in space tech.
Key Details:
Launch Partner: China (via CGWIC/CASC).
Launch Site: China (Jiuquan or similar).
Purpose: Environmental monitoring, disaster management, agriculture, urban planning, and CPEC support.
Capabilities: High-resolution imaging, advanced spectral data for climate change.
Context & Recent Activity:
2025: Saw the launch of the PRSC-EO1, Pakistan's first indigenous EO satellite, in January, alongside other missions.
Late 2025: Another significant EO satellite (possibly PRSS-2) was launched in December, building on these efforts.
Earlier: PRSS-1 (2018) established initial remote sensing capabilities with China.
This continuous development signifies Pakistan's commitment to advanced data-driven governance and technology.
ReplyDeletePakistan successfully launches its second indigenous Earth Observation Satellite
Developed by SUPARCO, EO-2 is expected to enhance country's earth observation capabilities
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2592142/pakistan-successfully-launches-its-second-indigenous-earth-observation-satellite
Pakistan marked a significant milestone in its space programme on Thursday with the successful launch of its second indigenous Earth Observation Satellite (EO-2) from China's Yangjiang Seashore Launch Centre.
Developed by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the EO-2 satellite is expected to enhance Pakistan's earth observation capabilities, providing high-resolution imagery for critical applications such as national development planning, natural resource management, and environmental monitoring.
The satellite will also support urban expansion efforts, disaster management, climate analysis, and strategic decision-making.
SUPARCO officials hailed the launch as a major achievement, emphasising that EO-2's addition to Pakistan's satellite fleet will improve data continuity, coverage, and precision.
The successful development and launch of EO-2 underline Pakistan's growing technical expertise and self-reliance in advanced satellite technology, marking a key step in the country's space journey.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the nation on the satellite's successful launch and also paid tribute to the scientists and researchers who worked on it.
"This satellite will help in collecting critical data, climate monitoring, and obtaining important information and images for urban planning."
A Course Correction for Pakistan’s Space Ambitions – The Diplomat
ReplyDeleteBy Akash Shah
https://thediplomat.com/2026/02/a-course-correction-for-pakistans-space-ambitions/
The most visible sign of this resurgence came on February 7, 2026, when it was announced that two Pakistani candidates had been shortlisted for advanced training at the Astronaut Center of China (ACC). This follows the landmark Bilateral Astronaut Cooperation Agreement signed in February 2025. By late 2026, one of these individuals will become the first Pakistani to go into orbit, joining a mission to China’s Tiangong Space Station. More than just a pride-boosting moment for the country, it is a serious scientific endeavor where a Pakistani astronaut will conduct microgravity experiments in fields ranging from medicine to ecology.
Beyond the glamor of human spaceflight, the real substance of SUPARCO’s comeback lies in its technical achievements. In 2025 alone, Pakistan successfully launched three remote sensing satellites, marking an unprecedented pace of activity in organization’s history.
Arguably the most significant element of these developments is the HS-1 (Pakistan’s first Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite), launched in October 2025. To the average observer, it might just seem like just another Earth observation satellite equipped with a high resolution camera, however, it actually represents a technological leap that has ramifications across multiple domains. While traditional Earth observation satellites capture Earth in the visible spectrum of light, hyperspectral imaging breaks the light spectrum into hundreds of narrow bands. It helps with distinguishing the chemical composition of the ground below such as detecting early signs of crop disease, pinpointing specific mineral deposits, or tracking the exact flow of pollution in the waterways. Hyperspectral imagery also helps in providing enhanced observation and exploration as multi-band images capture details and anomalies that conventional visible spectrum cameras are unable to detect.
@YusufDFI
ReplyDeleteSix Pakistani Earth-observation satellites launched in just 16 months. These satellites are carefully positioned to provide Pakistan with continuous imagery of Indian territory.
The Chinese satellites monitor Indian territory more than even India does. Each inch of our territory is under surveillance — ISRO official
https://x.com/yusufdfi/status/2063836485347065941?s=61&t=mgTxrmITUbpo9NntN5677Q
Pakistan’s spy satellite network watching India has grown faster than ever in just 16 months
An investigation by ThePrint finds six Pakistani Earth-observation satellites launched in just 16 months. These satellites are carefully positioned to provide Pakistan with continual imagery of Indian territory.
https://theprint.in/ground-reports/pakistan-spy-satellite-network-india-jk-china-space-surveillance/2953507/
Between January 2025 and June 2026, Pakistan launched six Earth-observation satellites, all placed in Sun-synchronous orbits that make them ideal for surveillance.
Collectively, these satellites are mapping Indian territory at least once every two days.
SpaceX launched Pakistan’s PAUSAT-1 Earth-observation CubeSat on January 14, 2025, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-12 rideshare mission.The PAUSAT-1 payload highlights include:Collaboration: Developed by Air University in collaboration with Turkey's Istanbul Technical University.Capabilities: A 16U CubeSat equipped with a multispectral imager capable of a 1.5-meter ground resolution.Instruments: Features both multispectral and hyperspectral imagers to assist with earth imagery, natural resources, and agriculture.
ReplyDeleteIndia and Pakistan’s 79-year rivalry has made the dangerous move into space
ReplyDeleteBy Mohammad Waqas Haider
Lancaster University
https://theconversation.com/india-and-pakistans-79-year-rivalry-has-made-the-dangerous-move-into-space-286966
India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day war in May 2025. But while the media narrative was dominated by fighter jets, drones and missiles, the most consequential contest unfolded in orbit a few hundred kilometres up.
That short war was, arguably, the first between two nuclear-armed states to be shaped decisively by the use of satellites. Few analysts acknowledged this – and the silence matters. South Asia is now sliding into a new kind of arms race with no rules to restrain it.
The opening night on May 6 carried a lesson that should unsettle far larger air forces than those of the two countries involved. Pakistan, with a smaller military, fought a tightly networked battle that fused ground radar, airborne early warning, data links and satellite navigation into a single kill chain, planning and executing attacks. Pakistan’s strategy has been developed by an air force whose leadership had drilled that doctrine for years.
Pakistani officials claimed that one of their Chinese-built J-10C fighters downed an Indian Rafale with a PL-15 missile at more than 200kms. This was a kill made from beyond visual range – something with little precedent in combat. India disputes the account, but its own chief of defence staff later conceded that the air force lost aircraft that day.
India regrouped and struck back hard over the following days. But the opening exchange was decided less by numbers, or by any single aircraft’s specifications, than by how well each side fused its radar, early warning, data links and missiles into one system, and by the training of the crews flying it.
Sitting over all this was space-based technology. Modern strikes run on satellites: satellite imagery to find targets, navigation to guide weapons and links to hold it together. Both sides drew on them and both used them to reach beyond their borders.
Despite the strength of India’s defence manufacturing industry, Delhi fell back on imagery bought from US commercial satellite firm Maxar Technologies to assess the damage its strikes had caused. Pakistan leaned on Chinese systems. According to India’s own deputy army chief, Beijing fed Pakistan live inputs on Indian deployments – and researchers have describe how a BeiDou-enabled satellite network (the Chinese equivalent of GPS) reportedly supplied targeting data during the fighting.
This is where the familiar story about Pakistan’s dependence on China needs correcting. Reliance on a great power patron is not peculiar to Pakistan – most countries start out developing their space programme this way. India launched its first satellite on a Soviet rocket in 1975 and built its heavy-lift capability around Russian cryogenic engines, the high-efficiency rocket motors that burn super-cooled liquid fuel to launch heavy satellites, acquired in 1991.
China itself began with Soviet missile designs. Pakistan’s turn to China, after years of relying on a US system it feared could be switched off in a crisis, is a rational decision of the same kind India once made when it sourced most of its weapons and its first satellite launch from Moscow rather than the west.
Borrowed capability still comes with a cost. Commercial and allied space assets are becoming a strategic equaliser in South Asia, giving a smaller state capabilities it could not achieve on its own. The risk is that this hands a third power a seat inside a bilateral nuclear rivalry and ties a regional quarrel to the wider contest between Washington, Moscow and Beijing.
India and Pakistan’s 79-year rivalry has made the dangerous move into space
ReplyDeleteBy Mohammad Waqas Haider
Lancaster University
https://theconversation.com/india-and-pakistans-79-year-rivalry-has-made-the-dangerous-move-into-space-286966
India has chosen to respond with sheer volume, fast-tracking a home-grown programme worth US$3.2 billion (£2.4 billion) for 52 dedicated military satellites to watch Pakistan, China and the Indian Ocean, plus a new space doctrine and counterspace arsenal. It has already demonstrated its ability to destroy a satellite in orbit in its 2019 Mission Shakti test. Pakistan is likely to respond by deepening its partnership with China.
Split-second decisions
The deeper hazard is not a battle in orbit but the way these systems compress the timing with which operational decisions are made. When commanders can watch an adversary almost in real time and believe a target can be struck within minutes, the pull to move first, before the target slips away, becomes hard to resist.
As I have written on the doctrine of limited air wars, nuclear neighbours rarely escalate deliberately. They tend to stumble into conflict under time pressure. Satellites do not make these states reckless. They reduce the margin for miscalculation.
And there is no rule book. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but is silent on the conventional, electronic and cyber tools that actually shaped this war. Fresh norms have stalled. India has abstained from recent United Nations resolutions on responsible behaviour in space, wary of a rule-making process it sees as led by the established western space powers and shaped without India’s full say.
Meanwhile, Pakistan urges a restraint it cannot yet enforce. Nothing in the space domain resembles even the imperfect hotlines and arms-control treaties that disciplined the cold war rivalry between Washington and Moscow.
For years, the debate about war in space has focused on the US, China and Russia. Yet it may be here, between two states partitioned in 1947 that have fought four wars since, that the world first sees what space-enabled conflict between nuclear powers really looks like.
Having spent 17 years in the Pakistan Air Force before turning to research, I think the May war is not so much a story about Pakistan’s reliance on China than as two nuclear rivals racing the same space-enabled technology ahead of any restraint. The tools are advancing fast. The guardrails are not.
ReplyDeletePakistan is moving forward with a Rs37.13 billion project to establish the Pakistan Space Centre (PSC), sponsored by SUPARCO, aiming to build domestic capability for designing, assembling, integrating, and testing satellites.Project DetailsSponsor: Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)Estimated Cost: Rs37.130 billionCurrent Status: Approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and referred to ECNEC for final clearanceCore Objective: Develop local capability for satellite manufacturing and testing to reduce reliance on foreign facilitiesBroader Initiative: Part of the long-term National Space Programme (NSP)-2047
————-
"The project is a key component of the National Space Programme (NSP)-2047," (Minister Ahsan) Iqbal said. "It will strengthen Pakistan's self-reliance in space technology by enabling cost-effective development of satellites to meet strategic, scientific and socio-economic requirements."
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2622493/cdwp-approves-space-centre-project-among-others
ReplyDeletePakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) on Thursday announced “Jinnah-1” as the official name of the country’s first lunar rover.
https://www.dawn.com/news/2022575
The rover is scheduled to be sent to the Moon in 2029 as part of China’s Chang’e-8 mission, where it will conduct scientific research at the lunar south pole, Suparco said.
The Moon’s south pole is known for its challenging terrain and potential to yield significant scientific discoveries.
In a ceremony held in Islamabad, Suparco said that the name was selected from 4,000 proposals received in a countrywide competition.
Seven participants had proposed the name “Jinnah-1” and the winner was selected through a lucky draw, according to a statement from Suparco.
Tayyab Karim, a 17-year-old from Bahawalnagar, was declared the winner for proposing the name, Suparco said.
The name pays tribute to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and symbolises “Pakistan’s resolve, progress and new space horizons”, Suparco Chairman said.
Jinnah-1 will study plasma, radiation and the lunar surface’s geology, as well as conduct key experiments related to future lunar research and the prospect of human presence on the Moon, Suparco said.
Suparco announced the collaboration with China’s Chang’e-8 mission in 2024.
“This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Pakistan’s space programme, as Suparco’s indigenous rover will be part of the mission to explore the lunar surface,” the space agency said at the time.
Nasa is targeting 2028 for the first-ever landing of astronauts on the Moon’s south pole, as part of Artemis IV, seeking to beat China’s planned crewed mission, Chang’e-8, to the same lunar region.
In 2023, India managed to land a craft — the unmanned Chandrayaan-3 — near the Moon’s south pole.
Its landing came days after a Russian probe crashed in the same region and four years since the previous Indian attempt failed at the last moment.
Sushant Singh
ReplyDelete@SushantSin
We ought to learn to tamper the rhetoric and look at the reality. And it is not always great, even in space rocket launches.
https://x.com/SushantSin/status/2090663533373747224?s=20
-----------------------
India’s Rocket Launch Costs Over $13k Per Kg, Four Times Higher Than US
The findings highlight a challenge for India's commercial space ambitions, even as private companies begin entering the launch market
https://www.outlookbusiness.com/deeptech/indias-rocket-launch-costs-over-13k-per-kg-four-times-higher-than-us
ndia’s average rocket launch cost stood at $13,302 per kg, the highest among six major space markets
The figure was more than four times the US cost of $3,225 per kg
Limited launch frequency and smaller rocket payload capacities are key factors behind the gap
India has the highest rocket launch costs among six major spacefaring markets, with the average cost of placing payload into low Earth orbit estimated at $13,302 per kg at the end of 2025 — more than four times the US figure of $3,225 per kg, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Economics Letters.
First reported by Mint, the study by Alessio Terzi of the University of Cambridge and Francesco Nicoli of Politecnico di Torino placed India above the European Union, Russia, China and Japan in terms of launch costs.
Europe was the next most expensive market at $9,897 per kg, followed by Russia at $6,682, China at $5,809 and Japan at $5,287, the study said.The research analysed more than 6,740 rocket launches between 1960 and 2025 to assess how accumulated experience and launch activity affect costs.
India's estimates were based on launches coordinated by NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), using a mix of domestic launch vehicles, as per Mint.
The findings highlight a challenge for India's commercial space ambitions, even as private companies begin entering the launch market. Skyroot Aerospace's first private commercial rocket launch on July 18 marked an important milestone, but lower costs may take time to materialise.
Skyroot chief executive Pawan Kumar Chandana had told Mint in October 2025 that the company expected to generate at least $4 million from each launch of its Vikram-1 rocket. At its maximum payload capacity of 350 kg to low Earth orbit, this would translate to about $11,000 per kg.
Scale and launch frequency remain major advantages for the US. According to the study, the United States accounted for more than 80% of global payload sent to orbit in 2025.
The researchers also found that since 2010, only the US and Europe had demonstrated statistically significant reductions in costs linked to accumulated launch experience, with the US improving faster.
SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 can carry up to 22,800 kg to low Earth orbit, compared with the 10,000-kg capacity of India's LVM3, which was not reusable. India completed four successful launches in 2025, while SpaceX reportedly carried out eight successful missions in August alone.
The study suggests that increasing launch frequency, payload capacity and technological capability will be crucial if India is to narrow its cost gap and build a competitive commercial launch market.
"The very high figure for India might be counterintuitive as it stands in stark contrast with the narrative of the country’s frugal space programme. However, this is a result of focussing on small rocket sizes, which implies that, albeit being low by international standards, fixed costs get amortised over a limited payload," Terzi and Nicoli wrote, as per Mint.