ISLAMABAD: China on Friday launched Pakistan’s indigenously developed Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite into space that aims to predict natural disasters and monitor resources, Chinese and Pakistani state media reported.
The EO-1 satellite was launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch represents the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission’s (SUPARCO) dedication and expertise in advancing Pakistan’s technological capabilities in space science.
The satellite will enhance the country’s ability to monitor and manage natural resources, predict and respond to natural disasters, support food security and drive economic growth through informed decision-making and sustainable development.
“The satellite, named PRSC-EO1, was launched at 12:07 p.m. (Beijing time) by a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered its planned orbit successfully,” Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
“The rocket also carried two other satellites, namely Tianlu-1 and Lantan-1.”
The launch marked the 556th flight mission involving China’s Long March carrier rocket series, which was launched in 1970.
In urban development, the EO-1 satellite can help track infrastructure growth, manage urban sprawl and aid city and regional planning efforts. It will provide timely updates on floods, landslides, earthquakes, deforestation and land erosion in terms of environmental monitoring and disaster management, according to Pakistani state media.
The satellite will also support extraction and conservation strategies for natural resources, such as the monitoring of minerals, oil and gas fields, glacier recession and water resources.
Pakistan has witnessed erratic, frequent changes in its weather patterns, including floods, droughts, cyclones, torrential rainstorms, heatwaves and the slow-onset threat of glacial melting, in recent years that scientists have blamed on human-driven climate change.
In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.
“Designed and developed entirely by Pakistani engineers, EO-1 satellite is expected to provide substantial benefits across various sectors,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported on Friday.
Pakistan has taken strides in its space research program in the past few months. In Nov. last year, SUPARCO announced its rover will join China’s Chang’E 8 mission to explore the moon’s surface in 2028.
In May 2024, Pakistan launched its first lunar satellite aboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe, which was tasked with landing on the far side of the moon that perpetually faces away from the Earth. China was the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.
China launches Pakistani indigenous satellite aimed at predicting natural disasters
https://arab.news/gnmc8
China launches Pakistani indigenous satellite aimed at predicting natural disasters
- The satellite was launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:07 p.m.
- It can provide timely updates on floods, landslides, earthquakes and glacier recession
Pakistan and Italy mark 70 years of archaeological cooperation in Swat
- Founded in 1955, Italy’s Swat mission has led excavations and conservation work at major Gandhara sites
- Italian archaeologists have also contributed to training Pakistani researchers and museum development
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Italy marked 70 years of archaeological cooperation, said an official statement on Sunday, with officials highlighting decades of joint work in preserving ancient sites in the country’s northwest, where Italian researchers have played a central role in documenting and conserving remnants of the Gandhara civilization.
The Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat was established in 1955 by Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci, a leading expert on Asian art and religions, with the aim of studying, excavating and preserving Buddhist and pre-Islamic sites in what is now Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Over the decades, the mission has become one of the longest-running foreign archaeological projects in the country, working closely with Pakistani authorities and academic institutions.
“Pakistan is committed to advancing archaeological research, conservation and education, and looks forward to deepening cooperation with Italy in both scope and dimension,” Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi said while addressing a ceremony in Rome marking the mission’s anniversary.
The event was organized by Italy’s International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (ISMEO), with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the University of Venice, and was attended by Pakistani and Italian academics, diplomats and cultural officials.
The Italian mission was originally conceived to systematically document Buddhist sites in the Swat Valley, once a major center of the ancient Gandhara civilization, which flourished from around the first century BCE and became a crossroads of South Asian, Central Asian and Hellenistic influences.
Since its inception, the mission has led or supported excavations and conservation work at several key sites, including Barikot, believed to be ancient Bazira mentioned by classical sources, as well as Butkara and Saidu Sharif, helping establish chronologies, preserve stupas and monasteries and train generations of Pakistani archaeologists.
Italian researchers have also worked with local authorities on site protection, museum development and post-conflict rehabilitation, particularly after natural disasters and periods of unrest that threatened archaeological heritage in the region.
The anniversary program featured sessions on the history of the mission, its collaboration with the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and future research areas such as archaeobotany, epigraphy and geoarchaeology.
The event was moderated by Professor Luca Maria Olivieri of the University of Venice, who has been associated with archaeological fieldwork in Pakistan for nearly four decades and was awarded Pakistan’s Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his contributions to heritage preservation.
Officials said the mission’s longevity reflected a rare continuity in international cultural cooperation and underscored Pakistan’s efforts to protect its archaeological legacy through partnerships with foreign institutions.
