Pakistan to launch indigenously developed observatory satellite next month

Islamabad: Pakistan will launch an indigenously developed observatory satellite next month which can be used to study various features of Earth, determine mineral deposits and impacts of climate change. 

Fitted with sensors and cameras, the 285 kg satellite named PakTES-1A will remain stationary 610 km in space and its position relative to the Sun will not change, the Dawn reported.

Known as the Remote Sensing Satellite (RSS) it can be used to study various features of Earth and determine mineral deposits.

Depending on the kinds of sensors and gadgets fitted, the RSS technology can also help study impacts of climate change such as recession of melting glaciers, green house gasses, detect forest fires and even solve problems related to agriculture as well as forestry, besides a whole range of passive and active tasks.

The navigation technology for the satellite was acquired from China back in 2012.

India has been launching such observatory satellite since the 1970s.

Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Faisal congratulated Pakistani scientists for developing the satellite, saying they had made Pakistanis proud, the report said.