Pakistan launches "ICUBE-Qamar," its maiden moon mission.
The satellite ICUBE-Q was designed and developed by Pakistan's Institute of Space Technology (IST) with assistance from SUPARCO (Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission), the national space agency of Pakistan, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in China.
Professor Dr. Khurram Khurshid, a member of the Core Team of ICUBE-Q, stated in an interview with Business Recorder that the satellite is intended to orbit the moon in order to collect important scientific data, such as pertinent photos of the moon.
He informed our correspondent, "our information will help us construct additional space initiatives on a wider scale in the future."
According to him, the unmanned ICUBE-Q will arrive at its target in five days and have a minimum six-month lifespan.
According to an official announcement from the IST, China's Chang'E-6 mission launched the Cube Satellite ICUBE-Q into lunar orbit from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan, China.
According to the IST, the Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) on behalf of the China National Space Agency (CNSA) extended an invitation to APSCO member states to launch CubeSat into lunar orbit from the Chang-E'6 mission.
Out of all the APSCO members, Pakistan's proposal was approved following careful consideration, the statement stated.
According to an IST release, SJTU and SUPARCO worked with teachers and students from the IST to design, develop, and qualify ICUBE-Q.
According to the IST, CubeSats are a class of tiny satellites used by academic institutions for low-Earth orbit experiments and research, often at altitudes of less than 1000 kilometers.
The statement did note that these satellites are currently finding a wide range of uses in deep space missions and higher orbits.
It stated that it is difficult to communicate with and manage small satellites because of the Moon's eccentric orbit, which places it at an average distance of about 384,000 km from Earth.
In addition to having an onboard computer, telemetry and telecommand capabilities, three axes of attitude control for desired orientation, and payload data communication modules for connecting through a deep space network, ICUBE-Q is carrying two cameras as payload for taking pictures of the lunar surface and Earth/Moon from lunar orbit, according to the IST.
0 Comments