In a long-overdue try to affix the area race, Pakistan has managed to hitch a experience on China’s Chang’e 6 lunar mission by sending alongside a tiny cubesat referred to as iCube-Q. This small gadget, no bigger than a desktop pc, will merely take some photos of the lunar floor – an achievement that trails not less than 60 years behind what main area powers achieved many years in the past.
A Mission Enabled by China
Let’s be clear – Pakistan’s means to even try this extraordinarily modest lunar mission is solely because of the beneficiant help of China. With out China’s partnership and the inclusion of the iCube-Q on the Chang’e 6 mission, Pakistan lacks the monetary assets, technical experience, and launch capabilities to do something in area by itself.
China’s Shanghai College and Pakistan’s area company Suparco collectively developed the iCube-Q, underscoring simply how dependent Pakistan is on exterior help for any form of area endeavor. The Chinese language embassy confirmed Pakistan’s minuscule function, noting their probe may even carry payloads from France and the European House Company together with Pakistan’s tiny tag-along.
An Embarrassingly Tiny Accomplishment
Whereas Pakistan touts this as a historic first lunar mission, the details are that the iCube-Q is extremely restricted in scope and functionality. Primarily, just a few cameras bolted collectively make up the iCube-Q, able to nothing greater than snapping some rudimentary pictures from orbit – one thing the Soviet Union achieved means again in 1966 through the very first phases of lunar exploration.
Pakistan presently has no means to launch something into orbit, not to mention assemble something as complicated as a lunar lander or rover. They’re completely reliant on different nations sharing crumbs of their packages simply to have the ability to declare any type of area involvement in any respect.
A Decade-Late Try to Maintain Up
This pathetic effort comes a full decade after regional rivals like India achieved main robotic lunar milestones with missions like Chandrayaan-1. India’s current Chandrayaan-3 mission managed to land a rover on the difficult lunar south pole – one thing far past Pakistan’s capabilities.
Pakistan’s need to not fall too far behind neighbors like India fuels its area ambitions, quite than any true imaginative and prescient for scientific development or exploration milestones. With out the power to conceive or execute any area missions on their very own, Pakistan’s area program quantities to little greater than unhappy core nationwide satisfaction piggybacking on the appreciable efforts of different nations.
Whereas the Chang’e 6 mission, which enabled Pakistan’s small function, is designed to convey again recent samples from the lunar far aspect, the iCube-Q will probably be a silent, unimpressive observer taking rudimentary photos from orbit that possible have little scientific worth. That is traditional case of a nation attempting to create a way of accomplishment with out possessing anyplace near the means or knowhow to again it up.
Pakistan undoubtedly hopes this extraordinarily modest iCube-Q mission will encourage future generations. However till they develop indigenous area capabilities past snapping novice lunar pictures many years after the actual area gamers, their area efforts will proceed to be extra about taking part in catch-up in a subject they’re hopelessly behind in quite than enabling any groundbreaking celestial accomplishments.
