Introduction

Pakistan successfully launched its first Remote Sensing Satellites (PRSS-1 & PakTES-1A) in Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on 9th July 2018 from Jiuquan Launch Site Center (JLSC), China.

PRSS-1 carries optical payload having spatial resolution of 0.98m in panchromatic and 2.89m in multispectral mode. It offers 4 day revisit capability anywhere on the globe. It is tailored to meet Pakistan’s needs for high resolution imagery required by users for socio-economic development, especially in the fields of land mapping, agriculture classification and assessment, urban and rural planning, environmental monitoring, natural disaster monitoring/management, water resource management and others. Its imagery is also being used for monitoring and planning of mega infrastructure development carried out under CPEC. Two Ground Stations have been established for the planning, reception, processing and archiving of satellites imageries in Islamabad and Karachi.

PakTES-1A is an indigenously designed satellite developed by SUPARCO scientists, engineers and technicians for technology evaluation. It also has an optical payload with resolution of 2.4m in panchromatic and 4.8m in multispectral mode. Its imagery is available free of cost for academic purposes.