ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it aims to send its first astronaut into space by 2022 and will begin selecting candidates next year.
Neighbor and long-time rival India put its first astronaut into space in 1984 as part of a Soviet-led mission. It launched a rocket into space on Monday in an attempt to safely land a rover on the moon, its most ambitious mission yet.
Pakistan’s program, announced 50 years after the US Apollo 11 mission put the first man on the moon, marks a new departure after focusing on developing communication satellites.
“This will be the biggest space event of our history,” Science and Technology Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said in a tweet.
A selection committee would begin choosing candidates in February, he said.
Pakistan’s National Space Agency SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission) was set up in 1961. It launched its first communication satellite 50 years later with help from a subsidiary of China Aerospace and Technology Corporation.
Pakistan aims to send first astronaut into space by 2022
Pakistan aims to send first astronaut into space by 2022
- The country’s minister for science and technology says “this will be the biggest space event of our history”
- Pakistan has previously developed communication satellites and sent them in outer space
Pakistan dispatches special plane carrying 100 tons of tents for Gaza
- Pakistan dispatches special plane from Lahore for Egypt’s Al-Arish city for onward delivery to Gaza
- Pakistan has sent 28 relief consignments for Gaza comprising 2,727 tons of relief items in total since 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) dispatched a special plane carrying 100 tons of tents for the people of Gaza on Monday, the authority said, vowing to continue addressing Palestinians’ humanitarian needs.
This was the 28th relief consignment from Pakistan for the people of Palestine, the NDMA said, adding that it was sent with the support of Pakistani charity Alkhidmat Foundation.
The relief goods, which comprised 100 tons of tents, were dispatched via a special flight from the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore to Egypt’s Al Arish city for onward delivery to Gaza.
“With the dispatch of this latest consignment, the total volume of humanitarian assistance sent to Palestine through 28 consignments has reached 2,727 tons,” the NDMA said.
The relief goods were sent in a ceremony attended by Punjab Housing Minister Mian Bilal Yasin, senior officials of the NDMA, Pakistan’s foreign ministry and representatives of government departments as well as Alkhidmat Foundation.
“Government of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan stand firmly with the people of Palestine in this difficult time and will continue to make every possible effort to support them and address their humanitarian needs,” the NDMA’s press release concluded.
The development takes place after Israel allowed the limited reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Feb. 2. The crossing serves as the only gateway for the people of Gaza to the outside world that does not pass through Israel.
It reopened last week for the movement of people nearly two years after Israeli forces seized control of the crossing during the war with Hamas.
The reopening of Rafah has long been demanded by the United Nations and aid organizations, forming a key element of US President Donald Trump’s truce plan for Gaza, where humanitarian conditions remain dire.
Pakistan has consistently criticized Israel for its war on Gaza, which has claimed the lives of over 70,000 Palestinians, among them women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
Islamabad is also a member of Trump’s newly constituted Board of Peace global body, which seeks to resolve the Gaza conflict and other disputes around the world.
