ISLAMABAD: Detailing Pakistan’s ambitious plans to explore unchartered territory in space, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the country hopes to send its first astronaut on a manned mission by 2022, the same year that India said it would consign one of its own.

A contract for the initiative was inked between the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) and a Chinese company.

The announcement follows closely on the heels of a similar one made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had shared his government’s plans during his Independence Day address in August this year.

Officials from Suparco — founded by Nobel laureate and renowned physicist Dr. Abdus Salam — declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Arab News. However, the Institute of Space and Technology (IST) — Pakistan’s only educational undergrad facility for aerospace engineering which has played a vital role in advancing the country’s national space agency —  said that the plans were discussed more than a decade ago, but failed to gather steam due to several setbacks.

“[Due to the] Periodic change of governments and lack of funds, this could not be achieved but now you know who would be sponsoring us,” Ijaz Shafiq, deputy director at IST’s vice chancellor secretariat told Arab News.

Shafiq added that while officials have not nominated a candidate for the maiden voyage yet, a fighter pilot from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) could be the ideal astronaut for the project. China or another foreign institute are likely to train the individual as Pakistan lacks the infrastructure and expertise.

According to Nasa, selected candidates must undergo a two-year rigorous training and indoctrination program to become qualified astronauts.

While PAF’s official wing commander, Ahmed Vaseem Khan, agreed that the unnamed PAF officer would make for a suitable candidate, he told Arab News that an official statement would be released once the name had been finalized, as it was too early to comment on the matter at this stage. 

Approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan and his federal cabinet, the project was announced just a week ahead of the premier’s scheduled visit to Beijing, to discuss matters related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

China has played a pivotal role in assisting Pakistan in other space-related programs too. In July this year, Islamabad used Beijing’s launchpad and rocket to propel the PRSS1, a remote-sensing satellite for observational and optical purposes; and the PAK-TES-1A to monitor and collect data on weather patterns, environmental change and agriculture.

“We have to be part of the space race or we would be left behind. Though for the common man this seems a useless idea but they don’t realize this is the future. Can you imagine scaling a distance from Pakistan to New York that takes 11 hours or more in 6 minutes? That can only be achieved via space travel,” Shafiq said.