Pakistan has launched its first mission to the moon, entering the international space race for research.
The mission has been launched with Chinese assistance from China's Hainan Space Site. The satellite, weighing about 7kg, has been developed by the Electrical Engineering Department of the Institute of Space Technology (IST) in Islamabad. It was developed in two years.
The launch of the satellite, iCube Qamar, was telecast live from the website and social media platforms. The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) launched the first satellite into lunar orbit. The iCube Qamar will reach the lunar orbit in five days.
With the launch of the mission, Pakistan has become the sixth country in the world to go to the moon. ICube Q has been linked to the Chang'e 6 mission of China. The national anthem was played as iCube Qamar took off on the mission.
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The iCube Q, developed in collaboration with Suparco and Shanghai University of China, will orbit the Moon, equipped with two optical cameras to capture images for research purposes. Part of China's sixth lunar exploration mission, Chang'e-6, iCube Q's primary objective aligns with its Chinese counterpart's mission to collect dust and rock samples from the moon's South Pole.
The iCube Qamar is accompanied by payloads from France, Italy, and Sweden.
The faculty members of the department rejoiced over the significant achievement and termed the progress as a matter of pride.
Dr Rahman Mehmood who is the director of the Small Satellite Technology project said that our neighbouring countries and many other countries are going very far in space, so we also thought to work on technology advancement.
After being designed for two years, iCube Q was successfully tested for eight months. This mission will remain in lunar orbit for six months.
Students who are linked with the project are also quite excited about this achievement.
Rabab Sara a student associated with the project said that we should celebrate this big change in the field of space industry and we should also be very proud of this big achievement.
Another student Abdul Mueez Khan expressed that it is a great moment for all of us, we should all be proud of Sparco, the space industry of Pakistan.
Twenty-six years ago in May, Pakistan became the first nuclear power in the Islamic world. By sending its first mission to the moon today May 3, it is crossing an important milestone in the space exploration race. Mission iCube Qamar will reach the lunar orbit in five days. On this proud success of the country the experts and students associated with the project are glad on this massive achievement.
Dr Khurram Khurshid Core Member of Project Space Technology said that satellite has to orbit the moon and send back images. Other sensors will also be able to observe the magnetic field and it will further help the mission in the future.
The Islamic world's first nuclear power Pakistan sending a mission to the moon is proof that it also making significant progress on the space front.
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