by Shi Yu

 

As a Chinese spacecraft developed by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) successfully landed on the surface of Mars on May 15th morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced: “Thanks to your courage in the face of challenges and pursuit of excellence, China is now among the leading countries in planetary exploration”.

 

 

Actually, CAST, the trusted partner of the Pakistani space industry, has been cooperating with Pakistan for 31 years. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations, China Economic Net interviewed Wei Qiang, the Chief Designer of CAST, winner of Space Merit Award, who led the launch of Pakistan Satellite 1R (PakSat-1R).

 

Wei said: “It is well known that China and Pakistan have a deep friendship with a long-history, so CAST has been very supportive of Pakistan's space development, and working hard to complete the satellite project for Pakistan.”

 

 

On July 17, 1990, China's Long March ZE rocket was successfully launched for the first time, putting Pakistan's first satellite BADR-A into its orbit. The purpose of development of the satellite was to gain experience in communications satellites, to test voice and data communications between two ground stations, to test data storage and transmission and to gain experience in tracking satellites.

 

On August 12, 2011, CAST launched the Long March 3B carrier rocket and successfully put PakSat-1R into its orbit at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. “The satellite beam covers South Asia, the Middle East, East Africa and some cities and regions in Europe to meet Pakistan's communication needs in telecommunications, broadcasting, broadband multimedia and other fields,” Wei introduced.

 

 

“The schedule of developing PakSat-1R with high technical difficulty was very tight. We have to work nearly 20 hours a day to ensure the launch coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan,” he recalled, “However, nobody of us complained or flinched.”

“At the time, the Pakistani side worried that overworked cast would affect the quality of PakSat-1R. But in the end, it turned out that their worries were unnecessary. PakSat-1R has been online for a decade with remarkable stability,” he said.

 

“With the efforts of all space workers, China's aerospace industry has been the forefront of the world. We are willing to provide the best products and technologies to Pakistan to lay a foundation for further space cooperation between the two countries. BRI cannot be built without the support of Pakistan, so supporting our iron brother in space construction is also supporting ourselves,” Wei added.

 

At present, CAST is working on PakSat-MM, a new communication satellite jointly developed by China and Pakistan, which was signed in Nov 2020. Despite the cancellation of the visit of Pakistani personnel due to the epidemic, CAST is still conducting research and development in an orderly manner. Wei said: “Thanks to the tacit understanding and trust built up from previous collaborations, PakSat-MM project is going well this time.”