ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is preparing to send its CubeSat satellite into space as part of China’s upcoming lunar project, Chang’e 6, set to be launched in the first week of May.
The satellite, named ICUBE-Qamar (ICUBE-Q), is the result of a joint effort with the collaboration of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan’s Institute of Space Technology (IST), China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and the Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO).
The main objective of the Chang’e 6 mission is to gather samples from the far side of the Moon’s surface.
Pakistan’s CubeSat will be one of several payloads on the Chinese mission, from France, the European Space Agency, and Italy.
This project highlights Pakistan’s growing role in space exploration.
Pakistan is also carrying out research on environmentally resilient seeds and is exploring potential agreements to visit China’s Tiangong space station and lunar base located on the South Pole.
