In a recent statement, the secretary of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) Dr. Arif Ali has recently said that the commission is in talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for potential collaboration in its space program.
This is the first time that Pakistan has participated in this year’s Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi. At the conference SUPARCE represented Pakistan where they shared the details about their satellite related projects with the audience. Dr. Arif Ali speaking on the occasion at the Global Space Congress said, “If you have more satellites in space, then you have more opportunities of having international collaboration. At the same time, you gain something for your country and offer something beneficial for humanity. We believe in the peaceful use of outer space.” At the Global Space Congress, eleven Arab countries took part such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco to name a few, and signed on to the first regional team to cooperate on a space program. “Today at the Global Space Congress in Abu Dhabi, we attended the signing of a charter to establish the first Arab body for space cooperation, bringing together 11 Arab states,” said the Prime Minister of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Pakistan has recently started paying attention to its space program as they plan to send their first Astronaut into space by 2022. At the moment, the country has a total of four remote-sensing and communications satellites, two ground stations and two in orbit working for them.
