ISLAMABAD – Days after announcing Pakistan’s first human-crewed spacemission scheduled for 2022, Federal Minister for Science and TechnologyFawad Chaudhry has now outlined the details of the space program.
Talking to a local newspaper, Fawad dispelled any uncertainty aboutPakistan’s space program. He said,
Yes, launching even a satellite is costly. But there is no difficulty nowas the mission that we are planning is a collaborative one with China.
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Talking about the potential cost, he said that several factors such asprocurement and development of the necessary infrastructure and technologywill spell out the actual cost of the program.
The minister was confident that with Beijing’s help and a few milliondollars, the program will be a success.
Fawad explained that the space mission will be carried out in collaborationwith Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the Space and Upper Atmosphere ResearchCommission (Suparco).
He said the PAF will shortlist 50 candidates from its pool of fighterpilots in the initial phase. The list will be revised to 25 potentialcandidates.——————————
He maintained that the practice is based on international standards as theastronauts all over the world usually have an air force background.
Air force pilots are understood to have the necessary fitness, training,and experience for such missions and as such, are considered optimalcandidates.
While PAF finalizes the potential astronauts, Suparco would finish otherprojects associated with the 2022 mission.
The minister criticized the previous government for their lack of interestin Pakistan space program. He reflected that Pakistan was only the secondAsian country after the Soviet Union (Russia) to have launched a spaceprogram.——————————
We launched ours in 1962 under Dr. Abdus Salam’s guidance. Sadly ourgovernments did not take much interest in it. Some countries have reachedMars since, but we have lagged.
When asked about the utility of the program at a time when the country isfacing an economic crisis, Fawad said, the development of the space missionwill directly benefit other sectors.
Via: *Tribunelink*