MOSCOW – Islamabad is devoting more resources to Pakistan’s space programas part of its effort to become less reliant on foreign-owned space assets,according to a new report, Sputnik has reported.
In the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, the Pakistani government will spend morethan $40 million on its Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission(SUPARCO), the country’s space agency, including on launching newsatellites. In 2011, Islamabad spent about $35 million on SUPARCO.
The Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite, for instance, is slated to launchin June.
The agency plans to build a new research center in Karachi while allocatingspace centers in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore connected with the PakistanMulti-Mission Satellite (PakSat-MM1) some $22 million, Defense Newsreported Friday.
The satellites Pakistan wants to launch will have both military andcivilian applications and will help Islamabad keep eyes on its perennialrival New Delhi, Pakistani media reported. About 1.35 billion Pakistanirupees (roughly $11.66 million) will go toward procuring the PakSat-MM1.
Islamabad has previously relied on Chinese satellite data for its variousneeds.
“China has offered assistance and services to other developing countries.We provided our satellite sata to countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Turkey,Peru to help them monitor floods and fires,” Li Guoping, a spokesmanfor the China National Space Administration, said April 23 in Beijing.
Brian Coughley, Australia’s former defense attache in Islamabad, toldDefense News, “I have no doubt this has been [in] the cards for some timeand that the Chinese are helping.”