Pakistan launched its first moon mission in collaboration with China

Pakistan launched its first moon satellite mission, “iCube Qamar,” in collaboration with Pakistan’s space agency SUPARCO and China’s Shangai Jiao Tong University (STJU).

Chang’e6 Chinese spacecraft and Long March-5 rocket launched the lunar moon iCube Qamar satellite from the Wenchang Space launch center in Hainan, China. Both SUPRACO and STJU have developed the iCube Qamar satellite to orbit around the moon.

Designed and developed by the talented team at Institute of Space Technology (IST), in collaboration with Shanghai University SJTU and SUPARCO, this groundbreaking lunar mission is a testament to Pakistan's growing prowess in space exploration. 🛰️✨
— Institute of Space Technology (@ISTIslamabad) May 2, 2024

This event launched at 3:01 PST (Pakistan Standard Time), which IST (Institue of Space Technology) and Chinese state television streamed live.

Dr. Khurram Khurshid is a core committee member of IST (Pakistan Space Institute). He said iCube Qamar will take five days to reach the moon. It will orbit around the moon for approximately three to six months.

He also revealed that iCube Qamar will obtain several satellite pictures of the moon’s surface under this collaborative mission. Afterward, Pakistan would have its moon pictures from space for future studies.

Following this historic moment for Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed gratitude. He also congratulated the Pakistani nation and scientists for the successful launch of iCube Qamar. He said iCube Qamar (iCube-Q) is the first step of Pakistan in space.

Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar, congratulated scientists for the first satellite launch. He said today’s launch from China shows a good example of cooperation between countries and organizations in space.

AlhamdoLilah!
I congratulate the young Pakistani students and scientists on the launch of lunar orbital mission ICUBE-Q.

Today’s launch from Hainan in China, is a good example of countries and organizations coming together for space cooperation and shared benefits.

It shows…
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) May 3, 2024

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The iCube-Q satellite has two optical cameras that can take pictures of the moon’s surface. The first launched iCube-Q mission (of Pakistan) came as part of the sixth series of moon exploration missions in China called Chang’E6. iCube-Q became part of a series of Chinese moon missions after its successful qualification and testing.

Chang’e6 will land on the moon to collect samples from its surface. It will bring them back for research studies on Earth. This project is significant for Pakistan because it will carry a Pakistan CubeSat Satellite called iCube-Q.

However, CubeSats are small satellites made up of cube shapes and customizable parts. They don’t weigh more than a few kilograms.