Pakistan’s Space Program – Early Days
This talk will describe the early days of establishing SUPARCO, which gave Pakistan the lead in studies of the Upper Atmosphere and Space, not only in the Muslim world but all developing countries including Brazil, Argentina, India or Turkey.
This is a first-hand account of those hectic nine months, by the leader of Suparco’s five man team, which made possible what could only be considered a dream for a country like Pakistan at that time, laying the foundations of the Space Applications program including Earth Resources, Satellite Communications as well as Pakistan’s Strategic programs.
The next step was to set up local manufacturing of such rockets, based on technology contracted from the French Aerospatiale and Service des Poudre’s and a manufacturing plant was built at Mauripur by 1969.
About the speaker
Tariq Mustafa is a mechanical engineer with specialization in nuclear engineering and space technology. He graduated from London University with first class honors and did post graduate courses at the Atomic Energy establishments at Harwell and Calder Hall in UK, the USAEC at Oakridge, Tennesee, and with NASA at Wallops Island Virginia, and the French Aerospace Industry. He was awarded Hon’y D.Sc by University of Greenwich, UK. in 2013.
He led the team which established Pakistan and Muslim world’s first rocket launching range at Sonmiani in 1962 and the Rockets and propellant manufacturing plant and Instrumentation Lab. in Karachi.
He then rose to serve the Government of Pakistan in the coveted posts of Secretary of Defense Production, Science & Technology, Petroleum and Natural Resources, Public Sector Industry, and Privatization. He was elected Chairman of the Governing Board of Asia Pacific Centre of Technology Transfer in 1990.
During his 36 year career he has traveled widely to over 55 countries. He has been a prominent speaker on the subject of Science, Technology and Engineering in many countries and has worked closely with Prof. Abdus Salam, the Nobel Laureate in Physics.
He is currently president of Pakistan’s National Paralympics Committee and the South Asian Paralympics Committee.
He has been a searcher all his life, particularly on the subject of Man’s place in the universe and the connection between reason and revelation. His paper on “The development of Evaluation Criteria for Authenticity of Revelation” was published in the September 2008 issue of the premier Science and Religion Journal Zygon. He is author of the book “The Case for God” – based on reason and evidence.