Pakistan takes interest in UAE’s space programme

The secretary of Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission SUPARCO, Dr. Arif Ali has recently said that the commission is in initial talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for potential collaboration in its space programme.

For the first time, Pakistan participated in this year’s Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi and shared the details about their satellite related projects with the audience. SUPARCO was representing Pakistan in this event in UAE.

Dr. Arif Ali told to the Global Space Congress, “If you have more satellites in space, then you have more opportunities of having international collaboration. At the same time, you gain something for your country and offer something beneficial for humanity. We believe in the peaceful use of outer space”.

During the Global Space Congress held on Tuesday, Eleven Arab states including Saudia Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco etc. participated in this event, and signed on to the first regional team to cooperate on a space programme.

The Prime Minister of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said, “Today at the Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi, we attended the signing of a charter to establish the first Arab body for space cooperation, bringing together 11 Arab states”. Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) was representing Pakistan in this event.

The secretary of SUPARCO also said that Pakistan is interested in seeking cooperation with UAE, particularly in Pakistan’s strong areas of expertise such as satellite manufacturing and related-applications.

Pakistan has been paying serious attention to its space programme as they plan to send their first Astronaut into space by 2022. Currently, Pakistan has a total of four remote-sensing and communications satellites, two ground stations and two in orbit working for them.