Paksat 1R to be Launched on 14th August This Year

Pakistan telecommunication satellite replacement also known as Paksat 1R is scheduled to be launched on August 14 this year. Paksat 1R will be use to replace the current Paksat-1 satellite. In 2002 Pakistan purchased an old satellite which was developed by the Hughes for Indonesia and then it was placed in the allocated slot in December that year. Originally Paksat 1R was known as Palapa C1, was launched in 1996.

Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) officials have confirmed that Pakistan telecommunication satellite Paksat 1R is progressing as per schedule and will be launched on the Independence Day of Pakistan. They told the local media that government is providing funds even in these difficult financial times due to the importance of the project.

Pakistan will be able to receive data from the Paksat 1R satellite through the satellite ground stations which are situated in Karachi and Lahore.

Pakistan Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO) and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) are jointly developing the Paksat 1R satellite to meet the Pakistani needs an agreement for this was signed on October 15, 2008, in Beijing, during President Zardari's visit to China.

Paksat-1R is designed as a communication satellite which will allow SUPARCO to offer of different services like broadband internet for the Pakistani rural and urban areas , providing digital Television broadcasting service ,telephony services and emergency communications services for Pakistan.

Director of the SUPARCO’s Satellite Research and Development Center in Lahore, Dr Mohammad Riaz Suddle, said that Paksat-1R satellite will have a life span of 15 years and it will be launched at a longitude of 38 degrees in geostationary orbit at an altitude of 36,000km from earth.

Pakistan Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO) is also working on the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS) which would be launched in near future.

First Pakistan satellite was Badr-A, it was indigenously developed by the SUPARCO and launched from Chinese Xichang Satellite Launch Centre on July 16, 1990 from the Chinese Long March 2E rocket. It weighted around 68.2 Kg. Second Pakistani satellite was called Badr-B and it was launched by the Zenit-2 rocket in Kazakhstan on Dec 10, 2001.

Suparco has experience in manufacturing and testing high-altitude sounding rockets like Shahpar and Rakhnum. Shahpar was a 7 m long two stage solid fuel rocket which was capable of carrying payload of 55 kilograms to an altitude of 450 kilometres and Rakhnum was capable of launching 38kg into an orbit of 100km.

Former President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf had authorized the development of indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) in 2005 to put locally developed satellites in the orbit. t might be tested for launching the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS) akistan and China have agreed to promote cooperation in space technology. Both countries have agreed to launch joint research and development ventures in intelligence gatherings from space.