Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), best known as the SUPARCO (Urdu:ا سپا ر كو or پاکستان خلائی و بالا فضائی تحقیقاتی ماموریہ) is an executive agency of the Government of Pakistan, responsible for nation's public and civil space program and aeronautics and aerospace research. It was established in its modern form in 1961 by an executive order of President Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan on the advice of its founding director, Abdus Salam. The agency is part of Pakistan Defense Forces's Strategic Plans Division (SPD) under the current control of Pakistan Army. The SPD is headed by the Army's retired three star general Lieutenant-General Khalid Kadwai. SPD ہeadquarters are located at the Pakistan Air Force controlled Chaklala Cantonment.

The executive figure of the agency is Major-General Ahmed Bilal who is heading the agency as the current chairman of SUPARCO, while he is also serving his tenure as Colonel Commandant of Pakistan Army Corps of Signals Engineering.

History

The research in space sciences and aeronautical development was insued by the physicists at the Punjab University's Physics Department in 1957, following the successful launch of Soviet Union's Sputnik 1Fayyazuddin, Professor Abdus Salam as I know him, National Center for Physics However, due to the political instability, the programme was not undertaken seriously by the Government of...
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