Pakistan will launch its first indigenously developed communications satellite on August 14, 2011, from a facility in China and its life span will be 15 years.According to sources in Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), the satellite would be launched at a longitude of 38 degrees in geostationary orbit on the equatorial plane at an altitude of 36,000km above the earth’s surface.Paksat-1R will carry a communications payload to facilitate the introduction of a range of new services, including broadband internet, digital TV distribution/broadcasting, remote/rural telephony, emergency communications, tele-education and tele-medicine. The contract for Pakistan Communication Satellite (Paksat-1R) was signed between Suparco and China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), a Chinese firm, on October 15, 2008, official sources maintained. Work on the execution of the contract began soon after and is progressing as scheduled, the sources said, adding that the contract involved various other projects, including infrastructure and therefore it was difficult to invest an exact cost on the satellite itself. Official sources further said that at least two new satellites Paksat-1R and Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS) - would be launched in the near future. The satellites have been developed with technical and financial assistance of China. At present, Pakistan has a communications satellite, Paksat-1, in orbit, providing coverage across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the South Asian subcontinent. It is being used by TV broadcasters, telecom companies, data and broadband internet service providers and government organizations. Paksat-1R will replace Paksat-1, a leased satellite, to ensure continuity of service. In 1990s, Pakistan also operated a small satellite, Badr-A, in low earth orbit. however, the country’s modest space programme has been oriented towards remote sensing applications.
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