ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s lunar satellite, iCube Qamar, has sent the first picture from the moon orbit after completing three rounds of the moon.
The iCube Qamar was launched on board China’s Chang’e-6 from Hainan, China, on May 3.
According to the spokesperson of Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the first image taken by iCube Qamar has been received. iCube Qamar has sent the first image from the moon’s orbit after 7 days.
According to IST, the first image obtained from iCube Qamar was given to the Pakistani diplomat in Beijing by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The Institute of Space Technology (IST) team working on the iCube Qamar mission along with Pakistan’s Ambassador to China participated in the ceremony held at CNSA on the success of the iCube Qamar mission.
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iCube Qamar entered the Lunar orbit on May 8 and is equipped with two cameras, which have pictures of the moon from a distance of 200 kilometers.
The satellite iCube-Q has been designed and developed by IST in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University SJTU and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO.
iCube-Qamar was carried aboard China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft, which is the sixth in a series of China’s lunar exploration missions.
Chang’e 6, China’s Lunar Mission will touch down on the Moon’s far side to collect samples from the surface and return to Earth for research. The mission holds significance for Pakistan as it will also take a Pakistan CubeSat Satellite iCube-Q, developed by IST.