Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) has announced its intention to send a rover to the Moon. It will be aboard China’s Chang’e-8 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2028.
In recent years, China and Pakistan have been actively developing cooperation in the space sector. In 2018, China’s Long March 2C rocket put Pakistan’s PakTES-1A remote sensing satellite into orbit. In October 2023, Islamabad announced that it had joined a cooperative agreement to build an international lunar station. And in May 2024, the Chang’e-6 spacecraft that went to the Moon took a companion with it: the Pakistani CubeSat ICUBE-Q. It successfully separated from the carrier, after which it transmitted to Earth photos of the Moon, as well as data on the magnetic environment in its vicinity.
Now Pakistan is preparing for the next step. It will be sending a rover to the Moon. The six-wheeled vehicle will land on its south pole as part of the Chang’e-8 mission. Its main objectives will be geological exploration of the region and experiments on the use of local resources (including the possibility of 3D printing building blocks from regolith). Their results will then be used in the design of an international lunar station.
Suparco specialists are already testing the prototype of the rover. Its weight will be 35-kilograms. The apparatus is planned to be equipped with four scientific instruments, including a camera and an infrared spectrometer. It will study the properties of the lunar surface and test technologies that may be useful to lunar settlers in the future.
Construction of an international lunar station should begin in the 2030s. It will use the Long March 9 super-heavy rocket, the design of which looks suspiciously like Starship.
Provided by Thenews.com
