Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission ( Urdu خلائی و بالائی فضائی تحقیقاتی مأموریہ DMG Ḫalāʾī wa Bālāʾī Faḍāʾī Taḥqīqātī Maʾmūriya - "Commission for the Exploration of Space and the High Atmosphere "), SUPARCO for short , is the national space agency of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan , with headquarters in Karachi . She deals with the development and construction of spacecraft as well as research projects, primarily in near-Earth space, but also of an astronomical and astrophysical nature. Director of SUPARCO has been Major General Amer Nadeem, Pakistan Army Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers since 2018.

history

Muhammed Abdus Salam, first director of SUPARCO

After the launch of the Soviet Sputnik 1 satellite on October 4, 1957, the physicists at the University of the Punjab in Lahore became interested in space science. In July 1961, the future Nobel Prize winner, Muhammed Abdus Salam, accompanied President Muhammed Ayub Khan as a scientific advisor on a state visit to the USA, where the Apollo program had started two months earlier . The NASA lacked at that time of data on the winds in the upper atmosphere over the Indian Ocean , and so they invited Pakistan to a, a launch site for sounding rockets to create and to support them in collecting this data.

Tariq Mustafa (* 1934), chief engineer at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, was working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the United States Atomic Energy Commission . Abdus Salam invited him to take part in a meeting he held in Washington, DC with Arnold Frutkin (* 1918), the assistant director of the NASA International Programs Office. Frutkin Pakistan offered to support the country in the development and launch of sounding rockets if, in return, Pakistan agreed to share the data collected during the flights with NASA. Abdus Salam and Tariq Mustafa accepted the offer. Frutkin then arranged for Tariq Mustafa to visit NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia . Tariq Mustafa wrote a report on his visit, which Abdus Salam passed on to President Ayub Khan.

Ayub Khan did not hesitate long. On September 16, 1961, by presidential decree, he founded a “Department for Space Science Research” (Space Sciences Research Wing) within the Atomic Energy Commission. Today this is considered the foundation day of SUPARCO. The new department was headed by Muhammed Abdus Salam, his deputy to the nuclear physicist Ishrat Hussain Usmani (1917–1992), director of the Atomic Energy Commission. The two were supported by Sibte Nabi Naqvi, 1949–1953 director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and the physicist Muhammed Innas Ali (1916–2010) from the Atomic Energy Commission.

Tariq Mustafa was assigned to lead the group to set up a missile launch site in Sonmiani Bay in Lasbela District , Balochistan Province . In September 1961 he and three other scientists and engineers from the Atomic Energy Commission and Muhammed Rehmatullah, Regional Director of the Meteorological Authority, were sent to the USA, where they were trained by NASA at the Wallops Flight Facility and the Goddard Space Flight Center . Within nine months, the Sonmiani Flight Test Range was built in cooperation with the Pakistan Air Force Maintenance Branch under Commodore Władysław Józef Marian Turowicz (1908–1980) , and on June 7, 1962 the first sounding rocket of the Nike Cajun type took off from there, in Pakistan Rehbar (رهبر), also called "Führer".

After four other successful launches, a meeting was chaired by President Ayub Khan on July 25, 1964, as a result of which the Department for Space Research was separated from the Atomic Energy Commission and renamed the "Commission for the Exploration of Space and the High Atmosphere" (SUPARCO) with effect from September 16, 1964 was directly subordinate to the President. Abdus Salam remained director of the new authority, and Ishrat Hussain Usmani was still his deputy. After the Second Indo-Pakistani War in 1965, Ayub Khan came under increasing domestic political pressure. On March 8, 1966, SUPARCO was removed from the jurisdiction of the President and subordinated to the Scientific and Technological Research Division, the predecessor organization of the Ministry of Science and Technology, still under the leadership of Abdus Salam. At the same time, Władysław Turowicz was transferred from the Air Force as chief scientist to SUPARCO. On April 19, 1967 Turowicz took over the management of the authority.

Until April 1973, numerous sounding rocket launches took place from Sonmiani. However, after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over the office of Prime Minister with extensive powers on August 14, 1973, SUPARCO's funds were cut. This has to do with the construction of an atomic bomb proposed by Muhammed Abdus Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan (1926–1999) and approved by Bhutto on January 20, 1972 as President. Numerous scientists were withdrawn from SUPARCO and reassigned to the nuclear weapons program , while veterans of the 1971 Bangladesh war were given posts with SUPARCO.

So far Sonmiani has only launched foreign missiles such as the American Nike Cajun and Judi Dart , the French Centaure and Dragon or the British Petrel and Skua . As the development of the atomic bomb progressed, the question of a proper launch vehicle that could safely carry a nuclear warhead to India became more pressing. On December 13, 1979, a meeting arranged by Munir Ahmad Khan took place with the new President Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq - Bhutto had been hanged on April 4, 1979 - where the nuclear physicist urged the reconstruction of space exploration in order to use launch vehicles Medium-range missiles to come. Zia-ul-Haq agreed in principle and initially appointed nuclear physicist Salim Mehmud (* 1930) as director of SUPARCO on December 15, 1980. Salim Mehmud was one of the scientists who had traveled to the USA for training in 1961 and was sent back to the USA after the first Rehbar launch, where he worked on the development and improvement of solid rockets at the Goddard Space Flight Center concerned.

After Zia-ul-Haq gave Pakistani space research a new structure with Decree No. 20 of May 21, 1981, with a Space Research Council (SRC), an Executive Committee of the Space Research Council (ECSRC) and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Salim Mehmud led the development of the Hatf (حتف, also "death"), a tactical solid rocket for conventional and nuclear warheads with a range of originally 70 km, based on the second stage of the French Eridan high altitude research rocket. The first flight of the Hatf 1 took place in February 1989 from Sonmiani. In addition, from 1990 onwards, Pakistan imported Chinese short-range missiles of the type Dongfeng 11 , there Shaheen 1 (شاهين-ا), also called " Gerfalke 1", on the basis of a 10-year cooperation agreement for defense science, technology and industry . The said agreement with the People's Republic of China was not only about joint procurement projects, but also about cooperation in research, development and production as well as technology transfer . So China helped Pakistan build a factory near Rawalpindi where this missile could be manufactured locally. For reasons related to conflicts within the military-industrial complex of Pakistan, this factory was then operated under the umbrella of the Khan Research Center, which has its own launch site in Tilla Jogian .

The SUPARCO satellite program ran parallel to the rocket development. In 1981, Salim Mehmud Munir Ahmad Khan suggested the development of a Pakistani satellite in response to the Aryabhata satellite launched in India on April 19, 1975 . Munir Ahmad Khan recited the Zia-ul-Haq, who gave his approval. A number of SUPARCO engineers were then sent to the University of Surrey to participate in the development of the UoSAT 2 amateur radio satellite , which was launched on March 1, 1984. After participating in a few more projects in Surrey, the engineers returned to Pakistan in 1986. With the support of the Pakistan Amateur Radio Society, the satellite research and development center of SUPARCO in Lahore built the 52 kg experimental satellite Badr 1 (بدر -۱, so "full moon 1") and on July 16, 1990 from the Chinese cosmodrome Xichang with one The Changzheng 2E launch vehicle was brought into an elliptical near-earth orbit with an orbit inclination of 28.4 ° on its first flight on July 16, 1990 . This was the first satellite in the Islamic world.

In 1991, the CIA noticed the technology transfer from China to Pakistan. As a result, the American government under George HW Bush imposed sanctions on China and SUPARCO in June of that year, which were lifted in March 1992 when China promised to adhere to the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime . Ultimately, however, China's relations with Pakistan were more important and cooperation continued, whereupon the US again imposed two-year sanctions on China and SUPARCO in August 1993. After these sanctions expired, SUPARCO proceeded more cautiously and indirectly imported the ammonium perchlorate for its rockets from the Chinese Academy for Solid Rocket Engine Technology and the North Korean Ryonbong Chonghoesa (련봉 총 회사), also known as the "Lyongaksan General Trading Corporation". However, these cargoes were seized during stopovers and sanctions were re-imposed on Pakistan in June 1998. All this led to the fact that the activities of SUPARCO came to a virtual standstill in the 1990s.

Things changed after Chief of Staff Pervez Musharraf came to power on October 12, 1999. On February 2, 2000, the powers of the Air Force Strategic Command, which had previously been responsible for Pakistan's nuclear weapons, were transferred to the National Command Authority (NCA) founded on that day, which Musharraf took over as chairman. The areas of responsibility of the new agency included nuclear deterrence, missile defense and the ISI military intelligence service as well as military satellites. Therefore, on December 10, 2000, SUPARCO was removed from the jurisdiction of the cabinet and subordinated to the NCA by order No. 564 Musharrafs - his official title was "Chief Executive of Pakistan" at the time. The Space Research Council created in 1981 and its executive committee were dissolved and replaced by the Development Control Committee of the NCA.

The declared aim of these measures was to make SUPARCO more efficient. However, this was primarily a matter of rhetoric: “We think, we conceive and we deliver.” In reality, SUPARCO was and is chronically underfunded under all governments and military regimes. For example, it had to finance the entire cost of $ 212.8 million for the Paksat 1R communications satellite launched on August 11, 2011 and its ground segment through loans from the China Exim Bank ; the authority did not have any equity capital. Apart from the money, there is also a lack of infrastructure and qualified staff. Thus, the SUPARCO provided in said paksat-1r Although some components, but while the Chinese Academy of Space Technology at the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite Program of the Brazilian after the first two satellites contribution National Institute for Space Research increased from 30% to 50% and you From then on, working at eye level, the company waived Pakistani help for the next project, the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite , also known as PRSS-1, launched on July 9, 2018 . Instead, SUPARCO, with South African support, initially built the Pakistan Technology Evaluation Satellite , also known as PakTES 1A , which was also launched on July 9, 2018 .

Facilities

Karachi

  • headquarters
  • Space Applications & Research Center
  • Space and Atmospheric Sciences Directorate
    • Space Application Division
      • Environmental Research Laboratory
      • Center for reception and processing of atmospheric data
    • Space Science Division
      • Karachi ionospheric station
      • Geomagnetic observatory
      • Astronomy (prediction of the phases of the moon for the Islamic calendar)
  • National Center for Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics
  • Satellite Research & Development Center for Remote Sensing Satellite
  • Telemetry, Tracking and Command Facility
  • SUPARCO Plant
  • SUPARCO Institute of Technical Training

Lahore

  • Satellite Research & Development Center for Communication Satellite
  • Space Application & Research Cell
  • Telemetry, Tracking and Command Facility

Capital Territory of Islamabad

  • Satellite Ground Station Rawat
  • Ionospheric Research Station
  • Geomagnetic Observatory

Multan

Peshawar

  • Space Application & Research Center

Lasbela

Jhelam

Important missions of the SUPARCO

Surname Starting year Brief description Result
Rehbar 1 1962 First launch of a Nike Cajun in Pakistan success
Hatf 1 1989 First launch of a short-range missile success
Badr 1 1990 First satellite in the Islamic world success
Shaheen 1 1999 First launch of a Dongfeng 11 in Pakistan success
PakTES 1A 2018 First Pakistani Earth observation satellite success

List of directors

Muhammed Abdus Salam 1961-1967 physicist
Commodore Władysław Turowicz 1967-1970 Aerospace engineer
Commodore KM Ahmed 1970-1976 Flight instructor
Salim Mehmud 1976-1979 Nuclear physicist
M. Shafi Ahmad 1979-1980 astronomer
Salim Mehmud 1980-1989 Nuclear physicist
M. Shafi Ahmad 1989-1990 astronomer
Sikandar Zaman 1990-1997 Mechanical engineer
Abdul Majid 1997-2001 Astrophysicist
Raza Hussain 2001-2010 Electrical engineer
Major General Ahmed Bilal 2010-2015 Computer scientist
Major General Qaiser Anees Khurram 2015-2018 Mechanical engineer
Major General Amer Nadeem 2018– Aerospace engineer

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 曹 骞 、 逯 耀 锋: 中巴 载人 航天 合作 联 委会 第 一次 会议 在 京 召开. In: cmse.gov.cn. December 20, 2019, accessed February 10, 2020 (Chinese).
  2. ^ History of EME. In: pakarmymuseum.com. Retrieved February 9, 2020 .
  3. ^ Only A Country Whose Space Agency Is Not Led By Scientists Can Mock Others. In: thetruepicture.org. September 9, 2019, accessed February 10, 2020 .
  4. ^ Abbie Rowe: Meeting with Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan. In: jfklibrary.org. July 11, 1961, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  5. ^ Bilal Karim Mughal: Metro Bus or Mars: The problem with our priorities. In: dawn.com. September 26, 2014, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Athar Osama: Muslim World's First Rocket Scientist. In: muslim-science.com. February 18, 2014, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Ex-Directors. In: pmd.gov.pk. Retrieved February 9, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Mark Wade: Sonmiani in the Encyclopedia Astronautica, accessed on February 11, 2020 (English).
  9. ^ Bilal Karim Mughal: Metro Bus or Mars: The problem with our priorities. In: dawn.com. September 26, 2014, accessed February 9, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Natalia Laskowska and SM Hali: Pakistan's Polish Patriot. In: dawn.com. October 2, 2016, accessed February 10, 2020 .
  11. ^ History. In: suparco.gov.pk. Retrieved February 9, 2020 .
  12. ^ Salman Siddiqui: Lagging behind: 2040 - Pakistan's space od (d) yssey. In: tribune.com.pk. August 1, 2012, accessed February 10, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Mark Wade: Sonmiani in the Encyclopedia Astronautica, accessed on February 11, 2020 (English).
  14. ^ History. In: suparco.gov.pk. Retrieved February 11, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Mark Wade: Hatf I in the Encyclopedia Astronautica, accessed on February 11, 2020 (English).
  16. ↑ Pakistan Missile Milestones - 1961-2014. In: wisconsinproject.org. September 1, 2014, accessed February 14, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Ajey Lele: Asian Space Race: Rhetoric or Reality? Springer India, New Delhi 2012, p. 45.
  18. ^ Launched Missions. In: sstl.co.uk. Retrieved February 11, 2020 .
  19. ^ Gunter Dirk Krebs: Badr A. In: space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved February 11, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Ajey Lele: Asian Space Race: Rhetoric or Reality? Springer India , New Delhi 2012, p. 46f.
  21. ^ History. In: suparco.gov.pk. Retrieved February 12, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Farva Kaukab: Suparco finds it hard to deal with local govt. In: dawn.com. February 20, 2012, accessed February 13, 2020 .
  23. ↑ China successfully launches 2 remote sensing satellites PRSS-1, PakTES-1A for close ally Pakistan. In: financialexpress.com. July 9, 2018, accessed February 14, 2020 .
  24. ↑ The Successful Launch of PRSS-1 / Pact-1A / LM-2C / SMA MISSION. In: cgwic.com. July 9, 2018, accessed February 14, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Gunter Dirk Krebs: PakTES 1A, 1B. In: space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
  26. ↑ SUPARCO Institute of Technical Training Prostpectus 2009. In: suparco.gov.pk. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Facilities. In: suparco.gov.pk. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
  28. ↑ Mashhood Test Firing Range (MTFR). In: nti.org. September 27, 2011, accessed February 14, 2020 .

Coordinates: 24 ° 55 ′ 4.5 ″  N , 66 ° 55 ′ 24.7 ″  E