Rs100,000 for suggesting name of Pakistan's first 'Moon Rover Mission'

Islamabad: Pakistan’s space research agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), has announced a reward of Rs100,000 for suggesting the name of the country’s first lunar mission.

According to the details, Pakistan is about to cross a major milestone in space research, with the country’s first lunar rover mission set to launch in 2028.

SUPARCO has announced a nationwide competition to name Pakistan’s first lunar rover mission, inviting the public to suggest the name of the country’s first lunar mission and announcing a reward of Rs100,000 to the winner.

It is pertinent to note that in May last year, Pakistan’s satellite ‘iCube Qamar’ was launched to orbit the moon along with China’s space mission ‘Cheng E-6’.

The satellite was launched from the Wenchang Space Center in Hainan, China, after which Pakistan became the sixth country to send a satellite into lunar orbit.

The satellite iCube Qamar was launched at 2:27pm on May 3, which was broadcast live on the Chinese media and the website of the Institute of Space Technology.

Emotional scenes were witnessed in SUPARCO upon the departure of the mission, with the SUPARCO Command and Control Center resounding with applause, and people chanting slogans of Takbeer and Pakistan Zindabad.

‘iCube Qamar’ was designed and developed by the Institute of Space Technology in collaboration with Shanghai University of China and SUPARCO.

This is the world’s first mission to retrieve samples from the far side of the moon. The Pakistani satellite ‘iCube Qamar’ is equipped with two optical cameras that are used to take images of the lunar surface.