Pakistan’s Journey into Space

ABSTRACT

Despite political, technological, and economic constraints, Pakistan is considered an aspiring space power with a relatively modest space program compared to the larger, more successful ones of China and India. Innovative leadership, smart allocation of national resources, and political will are all necessary for any country to progress in such a high-technology field. The Chinese and Indian space programs pose unique challenges and opportunities for Pakistan. Rivalry with India over its regional and extra-regional ambitions means that Pakistan would have to give serious thought towards bolstering its space program as part of its national outlook in the twenty-first century. Pakistan can utilize cordial relations with China to improve its nascent space infrastructure through collaborative efforts to gain eventual self-sufficiency for socioeconomic and strategic purposes in the South Asian region. While Pakistan may not have the economic clout of a bigger power, it can utilize the “Space 2.0” concept of multilateral and public-private partnerships to empower its space program, enhance its domestic scientific and technological base, and build an indigenous space industry that can reap dividends at home and abroad. This can also benefit Pakistan’s needs to maintain strategic parity with India and stake its own claims as an emerging space nation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

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4. Robert Jastrow and Homer E. Newell, “The Space Program and the National Interest,” Foreign Affairs 50, no. 3 (1972): 532–44.

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6. Robert C. Harding, “Conclusions: Space Policy in Developing Countries,” Space Policy 37, no. 1 (2016): 48–49.

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8. Stephan F. von Welck, “India’s Space Policy: A Developing Country in the ‘Space Club,’” Space Policy 3, no. 4 (1987): 326–34.

9. Andrew Small, The China-Pakistan Axis: Asia’s New Geopolitics (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2015).

10. James Clay Moltz, Asia’s Space Race: National Motivations, Regional Rivalries, and International Risks (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2012), 108.

11. Ibid., 92–93.

12. Stacey Solomone, “China’s Space Program: The Great Leap Upward,” Journal of Contemporary China 15, no. 47 (2006): 311–327.

13. Ajay Lele, “India’s Policy for Outer Space,” Space Policy 39–40, no. 1 (2016): 26–32.

14. Ibid., 31–32.

15. India government is likely to take a major step toward space commercialization by introducing the Space Activities Bill in 2019, which was drafted in 2017. The draft bill is likely to foster the Indian aerospace industry, as well as increasing commercialization of the space industry, by regulating space activities to ensure the use of outer space for a variety of purposes. For details, see Anonna Dutt, “Bill on Commercialization of Space Activities Likely in 2019,” Hindustan Times, 29 December 2018. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bill-on-commercialization-of-space-activities-likely-in-2019/story-2lxrwXC4ANBbfgAY5nsvUM.html (accessed 9 January 2019)

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17. Salim Mehmud, “Pakistan’s Space Programme,” Space Policy 5, no. 3 (1989): 217–26.

18. Ibid., 220–25.

19. Ibid., 225–26.

20. “History,” SUPARCO, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/history.asp (accessed 3 November 2018).

21. Moltz, Asia’s Space Race, 173–76.

22. “BADR-1,” SUPARCO, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/badr1.asp (accessed 3 November 2018).

23. “BADR-B,” SUPARCO, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/badrb.asp (accessed 3 November 2018).

24. Moltz, Asia’s Space Race, 174–75.

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29. Naveed Siddiqui, “Pakistan Launches Remote Sensing Satellite in China,” Dawn, 9 July 2018. https://www.dawn.com/news/1418966/pakistan-launches-remote-sensing-satellite-in-china (accessed 10 January 2019).

30. Ahmad Khan, “From Badr-1 to PRSS-1: Pakistan’s Journey into Space,” Pakistan Politico, 7 August 2018. http://pakistanpolitico.com/from-badr-1-to-prss-1-pakistans-journey-into-space/ (accessed 17 December 2019).

31. Deng Xiaoci, “Pakistan 1st Foreign Nation to Fully Benefit from China’s BeiDou System,” Global Times, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1047421.shtml (accessed 17 May 2017); see also Pratik Jhakar, “How China’s GPS ‘Rival’ Beidou is Plotting to Go Global,” BBC News, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-45471959 (accessed 20 September 2018).

32. Sehrish Wasif, “Pakistan Launches Two Satellites Using Chinese Rocket,” Express Tribune, 9 July 2018. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1753260/1-pakistan-launches-two-satellites-using-chinese-rocket/ (accessed 10 January 2019).

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38. David Harary, “Remote Sensing Satellites as a Solution towards Anticipating Food and Water Wars,” Cornell International Review 10, no. 2 (2017): 1.

39. Ibid.

40. Ahmed Bilal, “National Space Program: Past, Present and Future” (presented at the National Space Conference 2012, Islamabad, 17–19 September 2012).

41. Bilal Karim Mughal, “Metro Bus or Mars: The Problem with Our Priorities,” Dawn, updated 26 September 2014. https://www.dawn.com/news/1134488/metro-bus-or-mars-the-problem-with-our-priorities/(accessed 12  January 2019).

42. “Full Text of White Paper on China’s Space Activities in 2016,” The State Council, http://english.gov.cn/archive/white_paper/2016/12/28/content_281475527159496.htm (accessed 28 December 2016).

43. James Clay Moltz (Professor at Naval Postgraduate School, author of Asia’s Space Race (2012)), email message to author, 28 November 2017.

44. Abdullah Khan, “National Regulatory Framework for Outer Space Activities in Pakistan,” (presented at the United Nations/China/APSCO Workshop on Space Law: The Role of National Space Legislation in Strengthening the Rule of Law, Beijing, 17–21 November 2017). Pakistan has repeatedly spoken against the efforts of major powers to militarize and weaponize space in the UN arms control and disarmament fora, and persistently supports multilateral negotiations to draft a treaty to prohibit a space arms race. At the regional level of South Asia, Pakistan is not willing, as of yet, to compete with India in space, and has directed its space program to achieve socioeconomic benefits.

45. Moltz, email to author.

46. Andrey G. Ionin, “Space 1.0 to Space 3.0: From Gagarin to Market Growth,” Room–The Space Journal 1, no. 1 (2014): 22-27. https://room.eu.com/article/Space_10_to_Space_30_from_Gagarin_to_market_growth (accessed 1 January 2019).