Islamabad: Institute of Space Technology (IST) participated in launching Pakistan’s first ever Cubesat satellite costing around Rs 3-3.5 million was launched by Yasny launch base in Russia. This is the technological move by the Pakistani researches for space advancement.
The achievement is marked by low cost of the satellite that is able to be incorporated in bigger satellites. The mini-sized satellite is only 1.33 kilograms in weight and has volume of one liter.
Raza Butt, the IST spokesman said that the miniaturized satellite has to go through the test standards set for all the satellites. ‘For specific applications, the Cubesats can help to develop satellite constellations’.
Giving details about the technology, Butt said that the project had been initiated in the year 2009 by 20 faculty members and 15 students. ICUBE has 2 years operational period.
Sharing interesting information about the project the spokesman said that various other countries apart from Russia have shown keen interest in carrying out future Cubesats developments. The IST members and the developers had contacted personnel from USA, Peru, Spain and Italy. They had been impressed with Pakistan’s aerial achievement. It took around a decade for the developers to attain the space technology.