The Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS), commercially known as Remote Sensing Satellite System (RSSS), is a dual-purpose Earth observational and optical satellite. Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (PRSS-1) was launched from China's Jiuquan Satellite Centre on 9 July 2018.

History

After successful launching and operation of Badr satellite programme which contained the experimental Low Earth Observational satellites in the 1990s and early 2000s, SUPARCO launched the work on the high resolution

Remote Sensing Satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

to meet the national and international user requirements in the field of satellite imagery. The PRSS program was planned to be a progressive and sustainable program with an initial plans to launch an optical satellite with payload of 2.5 metre PAN in 700 km

sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

by the end of year 2014, which will be followed by a series of optical and

SAR SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

satellites in future. Necessary infrastructure for ground control and image reception and processing is also planned to be set up. The satellites are under development process and they are being developed by SUPARCO. In 2012, the first remote sensing satellite project was completed. Suparco set up its own version of

Global navigation satellite system A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...

(GNSS) and immediately acquired the

Beidou navigation system The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS; ) is a Chinese satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations. The first BeiDou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System and ...

of China for this satellite in September 2012. Three satellites are under design by SUPARCO in collaboration with different universities throughout the country. According to SUPARCO, first satellite of this program was launched in 2018, and it is visioned to provide help in exploiting the potentials of space technologies for natural resource surveying and environmental purpose.

Launch date

On 9 July 2018 at 03:56:10 UTC, China successfully launched two remote sensing satellites for

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, which were launched to monitor progress as they build the

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (; ur, چین پاکستان اقتصادی راہداری) is a collection of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan beginning in 2013. Originally valued at $47 billi ...

, an extensive multibillion-dollar infrastructure development project between the two nations. The satellites were named PRSS-1 and

PakTES-1A Pakistan Technology Evaluation Satellite (PakTES-1A) is an indigenously developed remote sensing satellite of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission. It was developed by SUPARCO while payload manufacturing was subcontracted to South Afric ...

, and were launched from the

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility (spac ...

in northwest China using a

Long March 2C The Long March 2C (LM-2C), also known as the Chang Zheng 2C (CZ-2C), is a Chinese orbital launch vehicle, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Developed and manufactured by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the Long Mar ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

. The PRSS-1 is China's first optical remote sensing satellite sold to Pakistan. It is the 17th satellite developed by the

China Academy of Space Technology The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) () is a Chinese space agency and subordinate of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The agency was founded on 20 February 1968, and is the main spacecraft development and prod ...

for an overseas buyer, while

is an experimental satellite of

Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) ( ur, ) is the executive and national space agency of Pakistan. It is headquartered at the capital city of Islamabad in the northern part of Pakistan with additional facilities at th ...

(SUPARCO).

References

External links

Pakistan to launch remote sensing satellite system

PRSSS to be Launch

Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite

Pakistan to launch its first Remote Sensing Satellite
{{Orbital launches in 2018 2018 in Pakistan Spacecraft launched in 2018 SUPARCO satellites Earth observation satellites of Pakistan Space synthetic aperture radar Weather satellites of Pakistan