KARACHI: Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission’s (SUPARCO) first indigenous multi-spectral Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite launched on Friday at 9:07 am (Pakistan Time).
The state-of-the-art earth observation satellite, PRSC-EO-1, was launched via a Chinese Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China, SUPARCO spokespersons said.
Pakistan’s satellite along with two others, namely Tianlu-1 and Lantan-1, entered its planned orbit successfully.
The official launch ceremony was held at the SUPARCO Complex in Karachi earlier today, and Pakistanis witnessed the satellite’s journey into space live.
PRSC-EO1 is the first of a series of three optical remote sensing satellites for Pakistan, which will join the country’s existing remote sensing satellites, PRSS-1 and PakTES-1A, in orbit.
Equipped with high-resolution multi-spectral imaging sensors capable of sub-0.5m resolution, PAK-EO1 can capture near real-time, ultra-high-resolution Earth imagery.
This multi-purpose satellite will provide critical data to various sectors, including disaster management, military applications such as border control and troop movement monitoring, and numerous other strategic and civilian uses.
In urban development, it will allow infrastructure expansion monitoring, urban sprawl control, and support for city and regional planning activities.
In addition, it will provide monitoring of environmental calamities, including floods, landslides, earthquakes, land erosion, and deforestation.
The satellite would provide monitoring facilities for the extraction and safeguarding of the very natural resources such as minerals, oil-and-gas fields, glacier response, and surface and groundwater.