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In
1961, on the advice of Prof. Abdus Salam, the then Scientific Adviser
to the President of Pakistan, it was decided to set up a Committee
dealing with space sciences. Consequently,
a Space Sciences
Research Wing of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) was
established through an Executive Order of the President of Pakistan
dated 16 September 1961, which was addressed
to Dr I H Usmani,
the then Chairman PAEC. The programme of rocket firings was entrusted to
Chairman PAEC. Initially the Space Sciences Research Wing had the
following members:
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In
September 1961, Mr Tariq Mustafa, Principal Engineer , PAEC ; Mr Salim
Mehmud, Scientific Officer PAEC; Mr Sikandar Zaman, Assistant Engineer
PAEC; Mr A Z Farooqi,
Scientific Officer
PAEC; and Mr M Rehmatullah, Regional Director, Pakistan Meteorological
Department were sent to NASA for training in rocket launching.
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On
07 June 1962 at 1953 hours the two-stage rocket: Rehbar-I consisting of
a Nike-Cajun combination (which was earlier developed by NASA) was
successfully launched from Sonmiani
Rocket Range. It
carried a payload of 80 pounds of sodium and soared to about 130 km into
the atmosphere. With the launching of Rehbar-I, Pakistan had the honour
of becoming the third country in
Asia and the tenth
in the world to conduct such a launching. The other countries, which
had, until then, already conducted launchings of this type were: USA,
USSR, UK, France, Sweden, Italy,
Canada, Japan and
Israel. Rehbar-II was also successfully launched from Sonmiani Rocket
Range on 09 June 1962.
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The
data received from Rehbar-I and Rehbar-II gave scientists information
on wind shear and structure in the layers of the upper atmosphere
extending beyond the stratosphere. The
data collected also
helped in the study of cloud formation, cyclones and weather over the
Arabian Sea.
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A
high-powered meeting was held on 25 July 1964 under the Chairmanship of
the then President of Pakistan. A number of decisions were taken in
that meeting including the placement of
SUPARCO under the
direct control of the President of Pakistan. A three-tier structure was
thus created consisting of (a) the Governing Body; (b) the Executive
Committee; and (c) the Technical
Committee to take
care of and run SUPARCO's affairs. SUPARCO started functioning
independent of PAEC with effect from 16 September 1964 with Dr I H
Usmani looking after its affairs as its
Co-Chairman.
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The
structure of SUPARCO was superseded by a Government of Pakistan
Resolution dated 8 March 1966 whereby SUPARCO was constituted as a
separate organisation under the administrative
control of
Scientific and Technological Research Division (S&TR), Government of
Pakistan and a revised constitution for SUPARCO was adopted in the
shape of "Rules of SUPARCO" issued by
S&TR Division on
19 April 1967. Air Cdre W J M Turowicz was appointed as the first
Executive Director of SUPARCO (Air Cdre Turowicz was a Polish national
who served in the Royal Air Force in
India in WW-II and
after the war, he was among those Polish Air Force Pilots who opted for
Pakistan's nationality).
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In
1970, after the retirement of Air Cdre Turowicz, Air Cdre K M Ahmed was
appointed as SUPARCO's second Executive Director who relieved his
charge in 1976 to Mr Salim
Mehmud, who remained
Executive Director of SUPARCO until 15 December 1979 when he resigned
the service of SUPARCO. Dr M Shafi Ahmed succeeded Mr Salim Mehmud and
remained in office till 15
December 1980 when
the President of Pakistan appointed Mr Salim Mehmud as Chief Executive
Officer of SUPARCO and asked him to submit necessary recommendations for
up-gradation of SUPARCO to the
status of a
full-fledged Commission.
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On
22 April 1981, Mr Salim Mehmud was appointed as the first Chairman of
Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO).
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The
President of Pakistan signed and promulgated SUPARCO Ordinance No. XX
of 1981, which was issued in the Gazette of Pakistan on 21 May 1981, to
provide for the establishment of a
Space Research
Council (SRC), an Executive Committee of the Space Research Council
(ECSRC) and the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission
(SUPARCO), granting SUPARCO an
autonomous status.
The then Chairman SUPARCO established three Technical Wings namely;
Space Technology Wing, Space Research Wing and Space Electronics Wing.
The National Assembly, ratified
SUPARCO Ordinance
vide Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Amendment)
Act, 1987-Act No. II of 1987, providing for, inter alia, the
replacement of President of Pakistan with
the Prime Minister
of Pakistan as the President of Space Research Council.
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SUPARCO
remained under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division until
September 2000 for almost 20 years. During this period, only one
meeting of the SRC (headed by the
President of
Pakistan) and 13 meetings of ECSRC (headed by the Federal Minister for
Finance) were held. The last meeting of ECSRC was held on 09 September
1999. The SRC, in its first-ever meeting
held on 24 December
1984, approved the Long-Term Development Programme of Space Science and
Technology in Pakistan, submitted by SUPARCO, which contained projects
of national importance.
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Mr
Salim Mehmud retired on 13 April 1989 and Dr M Shafi Ahmed took over as
the second Chairman of SUPARCO. On 16 July 1990, Pakistan launched its
first experimental satellite BADR-1.
Dr
M Shafi Ahmed retired on 16 October 1990 and handed over the charge of
the Office to Mr Sikandar Zaman who retired on 19 June 1997. Dr
Abdul Majid was
appointed Chairman with effect from 20 June 1997.
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On
10 December 2000, the Cabinet Division issued an Office Order No. 564,
through its Notification No. 5/11/2000-Admin.II., whereby, in pursuance
of the order of the Chief
Executive of
Pakistan, SUPARCO Commission was transferred from Cabinet Division to
the National Command Authority (NCA); the Space Research Council and
Executive Committee of Space Research
Council were
dissolved and were replaced with Development Control Committee (DCC) of
NCA.
On his retirement on 30 April 2001, Dr Abdul Majid handed over the charge of the Office of
Chairman SUPARCO to Mr Raza Hussain.
SUPARCO launched the second experimental satellite BADR-B on 10 Dec 2001 and is continuously working towards developing indigenous capabilities in satellite development.
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Mr Raza Hussain retired on 31 August 2010 and handed over the charge to Maj Gen Ahmed Bilal.
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