Pakistan's first satellite mission to the moon, ICUBE-Qammar reached a significant achievement as it successfully transmitted its first image from the lunar orbit on Friday.
The Institute of Space Technology (IST) announced that the satellite is now securely positioned in its designated orbit around the moon and is operating as expected.
As part of China’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission, ICUBE-Qammar was launched from Hainan province on May 3 and successfully entered the moon’s orbit at 1:14 pm on May 8.
ICUBE-Qammar captured landmark images of the Moon that were unveiled during a ceremony at the China National Space Agency (CNSA).
The lunar module was designed by Islamabad’s Institute of Space Technology (IST) in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University (SJTU) and Pakistan’s national space agency Suparco.
As per IST, the orbiter is equipped with two optical cameras to capture images of the lunar surface.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan took to X(formerly Twitter), to congratulate Pakistan on its accomplishment.
The embassy stated in a post, noting, "Well begun is half done." As Pakistan's satellite ICUBE-Q successfully entered lunar orbit on Wednesday after a five-day journey, scientists received preliminary imaging data, setting the groundwork for in-depth [China-Pakistan] cooperation in lunar and deep space exploration."
