Pakistan's Space Program

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), best known as the SUPARCO (Urdu:ا سپا ر كو or پاکستان خلائی و بالا فضائی تحقیقاتی ماموریہ) is an executive agency of the Government of Pakistan, responsible for nation's public and civil space program and aeronautics and aerospace research. It was established in its modern form in 1961 by an executive order of President Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan on the advice of its founding director, Abdus Salam. The agency is part of Pakistan Defence Forces's Strategic Plans Division (SPD) under the current control of Pakistan Army. The SPD is headed by the Army's retired three star general Lieutenant-General Khalid Kadwai. SPD headquarters are located at the Pakistan Air Force controlled Chaklala Cantonment.

The executive figure of the agency is Major-General Ahmed Bilal who is heading the agency as the current chairman of SUPARCO, while he is also serving his tenure as Colonel Commandant of Pakistan Army Corps of Signals Engineering.

Please see attached pdf for a detailed presentation on SUPARCO.
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    Riaz Haq

    Pakistan hyper-spectral satellite Imran Shah kazmi on TikTok

    https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTM2xm98x/

    AI Overview

    Hyperspectral imaging is a technique that captures an image and, for each pixel, provides a detailed spectrum of light, revealing the material's chemical composition and physical properties. Unlike multispectral imaging, which uses only a few broad wavelength bands, hyperspectral imaging uses many narrow, contiguous bands to create a "data cube" that functions like a continuous spectrum for each pixel, enabling the precise identification of objects, materials, and their conditions. This technology has diverse applications in fields like agriculture, food processing, environmental monitoring, medicine, and waste sorting.


    AI Overview

    Pakistan set to launch hyperspectral satellite in October
    Pakistan's Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is set to launch its first modern hyperspectral satellite in October 2025. This satellite will capture detailed information on Earth's surface composition and will be used for agriculture, mineral exploration, and disaster management by providing precise data on soil, plants, water quality, and more. The launch marks a significant advancement in Pakistan's space technology capabilities, allowing for enhanced natural resource management, national security, and response to climate events.
    Key Features and Applications
    Agriculture: Provides farmers with real-time data on soil health, crop status, and water quality, promoting sustainable practices.
    Mineral Exploration: Helps map resources like copper and rare earths.
    Disaster Management: Enables accurate tracking of events such as floods, earthquakes, and glacier melting.
    Environmental Research: Aids in monitoring pollution and climate change factors.
    National Security: Offers enhanced surveillance and geospatial intelligence.
    Significance
    Technological Leap: Positions Pakistan among nations with advanced space-based data capabilities.
    Self-Reliance: A step towards a data-driven and self-reliant Pakistan.
    Economic and Security Benefits: Links technology, economy, and security through data-driven insights.

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      Riaz Haq

      Mario Nawfal

      @MarioNawfal
      🚨🇵🇰 PAKISTAN JUST LAUNCHED ITS FIRST-EVER EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE

      Pakistan just entered a new space era with the successful launch of PRSC HS-1, its first hyperspectral Earth observation satellite.

      The satellite lifted off from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on a Kinetica-1 rocket.

      PRSC HS-1 can analyse Earth’s surface in hundreds of spectral bands, tracking crops, water, minerals, pollution, and more with scientific precision.

      This marks a major leap for SUPARCO and Pakistan’s growing space program.

      Think of it as Earth’s MRI scanner, and Pakistan now has the tech.

      Source:
      @OSPSF

      https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/1980046305335390214

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      AI Overview

      A hyperspectral satellite is an Earth observation satellite that uses advanced imaging technology to capture hundreds of narrow, contiguous spectral bands of light, creating a detailed "spectral fingerprint" for every point on the ground. This allows it to analyze the physical and chemical composition of materials and detect subtle differences invisible to the naked eye or traditional cameras. Applications include agriculture, environmental monitoring, geology, and disaster management.
      How it works
      Hundreds of bands: Unlike RGB cameras that see red, green, and blue, or even multispectral sensors that use up to 36 broad bands, a hyperspectral sensor captures data across hundreds of very narrow bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
      Spectral fingerprint: By stacking these hundreds of narrow images, the satellite creates a 3D "spectral cube" for each pixel, where the third dimension is the spectral information. This provides a unique spectral signature for every material, from types of plants to minerals to water.
      Detailed analysis: This high spectral resolution allows for the identification and analysis of specific materials based on their unique light-reflecting properties. For example, a hyperspectral satellite can distinguish between different tree species or detect the early signs of drought stress in a crop.
      Key applications
      Agriculture: Monitoring crop health, assessing soil conditions, and detecting drought stress or disease before they are visible.
      Geology: Mapping mineral deposits, providing precise geochemical data, and reducing exploration costs.
      Environmental monitoring: Tracking water quality, detecting pollutants, and monitoring changes in land use.
      Disaster management: Assessing damage from natural disasters and monitoring geohazard risks.
      Other areas: Forestry, climate change research, defense, and security.

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        Riaz Haq

        SpaceX launched Pakistan’s PAUSAT-1 Earth-observation CubeSat on , aboard a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-12 rideshare mission. [1, 2]
        The PAUSAT-1 payload highlights include:
        • Collaboration: Developed by Air University in collaboration with Turkey's Istanbul Technical University.
        • Capabilities: A 16U CubeSat equipped with a multispectral imager capable of a 1.5-meter ground resolution.
        • Instruments: Features both multispectral and hyperspectral imagers to assist with earth imagery, natural resources, and agriculture. [1, 2]