Daily Times

Pakistan’s historic lunar payload – regardless of how small it may be when compared to the larger China’s Chang’e-6 mission – deserves a special celebration because it marks the country’s “first step in space.” Of course, as is the case with all good things, the official announcement unleashed a brigade of trolls, with some pointing out how the actual operation had kicked off from Hainan in China, not Pakistan, and others drawing parallels to the scientific leaps made by our neighbours. There’s no denying that India achieved a remarkable feat with its Chandraayan mission last year when it managed to join the success stories of China, the US and Russia on a much smaller budget. Similarly, irrefutable remains the fact that our Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), despite being launched much earlier in the game and with the expertise of world-renowned specialists, is yet to find its feet.

The marvels by pioneer Dr Abdus Salaam, a noble laureate, could not be replicated by those who picked up the baton after hi, due to which, Pakistan’s earlier gains (may it be launching experimental satellites or holding a vast net of earth observation, remote sensing, and communication satellites), soon turned into tales of the years gone by. Nevertheless, reducing a sovereign country’s space aspirations to the realm of tit-for-tat measures would be a gross understatement. In an age where Indian hawks often make a great spectacle of using space surveillance for defence purposes, Pakistan holds every right to fortify its own domains to ensure a befitting response to any untoward development.

All this and the universal love for anything beyond the scope of planet Earth can only be achieved if SUPARCO refuses to be an afterthought. In addition to spelling an end to the decrepit underfunding, there is a need to understand a string of serious shortcomings in almost all of our scientific institutions. Encouraging our students to keep asking questions might be a good first step in the right direction. *