First Pakistani will go into space in 2022: Minister

Pakistan would send a human to space for the first time in 2022 with Chinese assistance, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday.

Pakistan's first space mission has been planned for 2022 and the Cabinet approved this in Thursday's meeting, Chaudhry was cited as saying by the News International.

An agreement between Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and a Chinese company has already been signed, he said.

Earlier this year, Pakistan launched two indigenously-built satellites into orbit, using a Chinese launch vehicle. These were launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China.

One of the satellites was a remote sensing satellite (PRSS1) -- a dual-purpose Earth observational and optical satellite. With the PRSS1, Pakistan became one of the few countries to have its own remote sensing satellite in the orbit.

The second test satellite was a PAK-TES-1A, developed by SUPARCO to enhance satellite manufacture capabilities in the country.

--IANS

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