Pak, China to launch satellite next year

BEIJING - Pakistan is closely collaborating with China for launching a joint space communication satellite next year.

“It will be a milestone in Pak-China friendship and bring immense economic benefits to Pakistan,” said Ambassador Masood Khan while addressing the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) on Wednesday. The agreement to set up the joint satellite communication project called Pasksat-1R was signed in 2008 and witnessed was by President Asif Ali Zardari and his Chinese counterpart President Hu Jintao.

Established in 1980, CGWIC is the sole commercial organization authorized by the Chinese government to provide satellites, commercial launch services and to carry out international space cooperation. The CGWIC is actively involved in the international marketing of products and services utilizing space technology and provides high quality products and specialized services in diversified fields.

While felicitating the CGWC on its 30th anniversary, Ambassador Khan congratulated China over the launch of its second lunar orbiter Chang’e 2 earlier this month. He also extended heartiest felicitations to China National Space Administration and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Recalling the launch of China’s first satellite Shen Zhou Qihao in September 2008, the Ambassador said that with its launch whole China seemed to have soared into space. He regarded it a true revolution of expectations and achievements. He said it has been a privilege for Pakistan to be associated with the GWIC.

The Ambassador paid special tribute to the hardworking and visionary leadership of the CASC and CGWIC over their successes. He specially complimented the work of China’s outstanding space scientists and CGWIC for internationalized development of space technologies. Dilating on the recent flood devastation in Pakistan, he said, the country has passed through one of the most difficult periods in its history. “At this difficult hour, the Government and people of China stood by Pakistan. CGWIC is one of those friends who stepped forward to assist us in our relief and recovery effort,” Mr Khan observed.

He expressed deepest appreciation and most profound gratitude of the Government and the people of Pakistan to CGWIC for its financial contribution of RMB 500,000 to Pakistan’s relief effor the said. As China prepares to launch Shenzhou Bahao, and to develop Mars exploration technologies for starting a joint mission with Russia in 2011, Mr Masood Khan expressed the aspiration that one day a Pakistani astronaut will travel aboard Shenzhou.

“We always say that Pakistan-China relations are deeper than oceans and higher than mountains. On the day a Pakistani astronaut boards Shenzhou we would say our friendship is as vast as the space itself,” he said