The Flight Test Range (FTR) at Sonmiani Beach is a

rocket launch site This article constitutes a list of rocket launch sites. Some of these sites are known as spaceports or cosmodromes. A single rocket launch is sufficient for inclusion in the table, as long as the site is properly documented through a reference. M ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

, approximately west of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The facility is operated by the Space Research Commission since 1961, initially focusing on supporting civilian space program involving the launch of

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...

s but its present mission has now been moved towards military programs.Dinshaw, Mistry, Containing Missile Proliferation: Strategic Technology, Security Regimes, and International Cooperation in Arms Control (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003), p. 118

History

Initially established at Sonmiani Rocket Range in 1961, the Sonmiani Flight Test Range is the only rocket launch facility operated by the

Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, commonly referred to as SUPARCO, is the national space agency of Pakistan. The agency, originally established in 1961 as a committee in Karachi, became an independent commission in 1981. Its in ...

. It was the crucial contribution from the American

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...

(NASA) that established the facility in 1961 with Suparco launching the Rehbar-I program that consisted of a

Nike-Cajun The Nike-Cajun was a two-stage sounding rocket built by combining a Nike base stage with a Cajun upper stage. The Nike-Cajun was known as a CAN for Cajun And Nike. The Cajun was developed from the Deacon rocket. It retained the external size, ...

combination on 7 June 1962. In 1989, the Sonmiani FTR mission was moved from supporting the civilian space program towards supporting the military program when

Hatf-I The Hatf I (; Military designation: Hatf–I, Transliteration, ''Translit.'' ''Target-1'') is a Surface-to-surface missile, land-based Short-range ballistic missile, short-ranged ballistic missile, currently in service with the Army Strategic F ...

(lit. ''Target'') was launched from the facility. Since 1990, the Sonmiani FTR has been expanded and modernized that now includes the several rocket launch sites, a rocket assembly and a maintenance workshop; a payload assembly area; high-speed tracking radars with a control room and telemetry station; flight communications equipment and optical cameras. It is currently spread across and located approximately west of

. The Sonmani FTR, not a

space center Below is a list of space facilities by country. Algeria * Algerian Space Agency Brazil * Alcântara Space Center * Barreira do Inferno Launch Center * Space Operations Center Belgium * Liege Space Center * Euro Space Center Canada * Joh ...

, now serves as a primary launch site for Pakistani military's missile testing program, namely launching the Hatf program (''Target''), including four tests of Hatf-II, two of Hatf-III, seven of Hatf-IV and five of Hatf-VI.

References

External links

*
Astronautix.com page on Sonmiani
{{Lasbela-Union-Councils Science and technology in Pakistan Space programme of Pakistan Rocket launch sites in Pakistan SUPARCO facilities 1962 establishments in Pakistan Military installations in Balochistan, Pakistan Installations of the Pakistan Air Force

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

History

See also

References

External links