Pakistan set to launch second 'satellite moon mission' on May 30

After the successful launching of iCube Qamar, Pakistan is all set to send its second satellite mission to the moon at the end of this month, the country's national space agency said on Saturday.

The to-be-launched satellite is designed and developed by the Institute of Space Technology (IST) in collaboration with the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco).

The new satellite 'MM1' will be launched into space on May 30, which will help in the "development of advanced communication systems".

"MM1 is capable of meeting the growing demand of the satellite telecom sector, the satellite will ensure better availability of 5G and internet," Dawn News reported quoting Suparco.

A day earlier, Pakistan's first-ever satellite mission sent back the first image of the moon from lunar orbit.

On May 3, the South Asian country launched its iCube Qamar aboard Chang’E-6 Mission from the Wenchang space launch site, Hainan in China.

The student cube satellite was carried by China's Long March-5 rocket. The satellite made the country proud by entering into the lunar orbit on May 8.

Following the feat, Pakistan became the sixth country to bid for touching down on the Earth’s natural satellite.

While talking to a private news channel, IST informed that iCube-Qamar made three rounds around the moon.

According to IST, the iCube-Q orbiter carries two optical cameras to take pictures and videos of the lunar surface.