Dr. Salim Mehmud, also known as Salim Mehmood, is a Pakistani rocket scientist and a

nuclear engineer Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei (fission) or of combining atomic nuclei ( fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of nu ...

. He is the former chairman of

Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) ( ur, ) is the :Pakistan federal departments and agencies, executive and List of government space agencies, national space agency of Pakistan. It is headquartered at the capital city ...

(SUPARCO). He has served as chief scientist at the

Defence Science and Technology Organization The Defence Science & Technology Organisation ( ur, ) is a multi-disciplinary agency under the Ministry of Defence Production of Pakistan, dedicated for evaluation of science and technology for use by the military. Its Director-General is a ...

. Currently, he is the chief Scientific and Technological Advisor at the Ministry of Communications of Pakistan.

Education

Mehmud took his BSc in Physics and a BA in Mathematics in 1955 from the Punjab University. The same year, he was admitted at the Punjab University's Graduate Program, and continued his research in Physics. He graduated and received his MSc in

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

and

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

from

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a State university in Jalandhar, Punjab * Panjab University, a public collegia ...

in 1957. The same year, he joined

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) (Urdu: ) is a federally funded independent governmental agency, concerned with research and development of nuclear power, promotion of nuclear science, energy conservation and the peaceful usage of nuc ...

(PAEC) as Engineer Officer (EO) and served in Nuclear Engineering Division. However, he was awarded a scholarship by former Chairman of PAEC Nazir Ahmad to continue his higher studies, and travelled to United States. There, he attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

where he received his double MSc in Physics and MS in Electrical engineering in 1959. The same year, he began his post-graduate research work at Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education which he did until 1961. In 1964, he studied

Nuclear engineering Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei (fission) or of combining atomic nuclei ( fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of nu ...

with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), also at the

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...

as part of the Atoms for Peace Program In 1961, he took his MSc in Nuclear engineering, followed by PhD in

from Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the supervision of Dr. William "Bill" Nelson in 1964. While studying at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, his mentor Dr. Bill Nelson has called him one of his brightest and finest students in his doctoral teaching experience. His doctoral dissertation covered a vast amount of study in the field of

Nuclear electric rocket A nuclear electric rocket (more properly nuclear electric propulsion) is a type of spacecraft propulsion system where thermal energy from a nuclear reactor is converted to electrical energy, which is used to drive an ion thruster or other electrica ...

NASA career

Mehmud who was working at an Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a

was asked by Dr. Ishrat Hussain Usmani to go to Pakistani Embassy at the Washington, D.C., and met with Professor

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a N ...

. He along with fellow

Tariq Mustafa arrived at the Pakistani Embassy at Washington, D.C. After the formal conversation, Professor Salam and the engineers went to a local restaurant where the engineers was personally asked by Professor Abdus Salam to join

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

. According to his interview, Mehmud expressed his concern over joining

and clearly notified Abdus Salam about his willingness to work in Pakistan's

nuclear industry Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

. However, with Salam's insistence, Mehmud and Mustafa visited NASA's headquarter and examined the American advances in rocket technology. The rocket science was found to be more challenging than it seems, according to Mehmud. After his visit to NASA, Mehmud and Mustafa decided to join NASA to study and trained in the field of rocket science.

Role in the development of NASA's solid rockets

Mehmud and Mustafa were assigned to conduct research in space and rocket technology. They, at first, declined the Salam's offer and vowed to work in a Pakistan's nuclear program, according to the interview given by

CNBC Pakistan G News Network, commonly known as GNN, is a Pakistani 24-hour news and current affairs channel based in Lahore, Pakistan. It is owned and operated by Gourmet Foods. It was launched in 2005 as CNBC Pakistan under a license from CNBC Asia Paci ...

. However, after Abdus Salam's insistence, Mehmud and Mustafa visited the

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC emp ...

. After the visit, Mustafa and Mehmud agreed to work for NASA. Mehmud and Mustafa arrived at

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New De ...

on a

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...

. Mehmud and Mustafa joined

in 1961. He was trained at the

Goddard Space Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

in rocket technology. He was the one of the earliest pioneers of

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, sha ...

and

Judi-Dart The Judi-Dart is a United States sounding rocket. The Judi-Dart was launched 89 times between 1964 and 1970. The Judi-Dart has a length of 2.70 metres, a dimetre of 0.08 metres, a maximum flight altitude of 65 kilometres and a launch thrust of 90 ...

, a solid fuel propellent based rocket. He closely collaborated with NASA scientists and engineers in the development of solid fuel sounding rockets during the 1960s.

SUPARCO career and chairman

Mehmud joined

SUPARCO The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) ( ur, ) is the :Pakistan federal departments and agencies, executive and List of government space agencies, national space agency of Pakistan. It is headquartered at the capital city ...

in 1961 on the request of Abdus Salam. He was immediately transferred in SUPARCO's rocket fabrication laboratory. Mehmud was one of the distinguished member of SUPARCO's team who launched the Satellite Launch Vehicle technology based- Rehbar-I under the direction of Air Cdre. dr. Wladysław Józef Marian Turowicz. He then was sent back to

where he specialised in satellite and rocket technology. He then travelled with Air Cdre. Wladyslaw Turowicz to the United States where both had studied and conduct research in space and rocket technology. Mehmud came back to Pakistan where he carried out his research in rocket science and satellite launch vehicles under the supervision of Wladyslaw Turowicz. Along with Turowicz, he sat the Sonmiani facility and was the responsible for installing the

Launch pad A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. The term ''launch pad'' can be used to describe just the central launch platform ( mobile launcher platform), or the ent ...

s and computer facility at the Sonmiani center. On 15 December 1980, with the support of PAEC Chairman Munir Ahmad Khan,

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.General Zia appointed Salim Mehmud as chief executive officer of

and asked him to submit necessary recommendations for up-gradation of SUPARCO to the status of a full-fledged Commission.

Hatf missile program

In 1980, he was made the Chairman of

with the support of PAEC chairman Munir Ahmad Khan. He successfully convinced General Zia to set up funds for SUPARCO. Zia who was a strong advocate for the space program, allowed SUPARCO to developed the indigenous satellite capabilities. During the 1980s, he started the Hatf Missile Program and was the project director of the

Missile In military terminology, a missile is a missile guidance, guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously ...

program. He was the principal figure and scientist in Hatf missile program and was the brain behind the indigenous missile development. As a profession, Mehmud is a

, and designed the missile in a complex model that the rocket can carry approximately up to 500 kg HEU

fissile material In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. By definition, fissile material can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of thermal energy. The predominant neutron energy may be typi ...

. It was his leadership that in 1989, 23 March, on the Republic Day of Pakistan,

, along with Engineering Research Laboratories, publicly tested the Hatf Missile.

Design of Hatf

The Hatf-I, the first

derivative In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. ...

, was designed as a highly mobile, tactical system. The missiles are said to have been derived from the second-stage of the French Eridan missile system. Due to difficulty in acquiring the technology needed in

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

development in the 1980s, the first derivative of Hatf missile is designed with zero or no satellite guidance. Dr. Mehmud's team also designed the missile that it can be considered as an artillery rocket. It is ground mobile and can be launched from a

transporter erector launcher A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-s ...

(TEL) vehicles.

Badr satellite program

In 1984, Salim Mehmud quickly launched the

Badr satellite program Badr is a series of satellites operated by Pakistan. The first satellite Badr-1, was launched in July 1990. It was the first SUPARCO engineered object to orbit the Earth. That launch took place on 16 July 1990 as part of the International ...

. The development and the construction of

Badr-1 Badr-A ( ur, , meaning ''Full Moon-A'') was the first artificial and the first digital communications satellite launched by Pakistan's national space authority — the SUPARCO — in 1990. The ''Badr-A'' was Pakistan's first indigenously deve ...

, Pakistan's first domestically-built digital communication satellite, was started. A small team of

scientists and engineers who had studied and trained in

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

were the part of the university's

UO-9 UoSAT-1, also known as UoSAT-OSCAR 9 (UO-9), was a British amateur radio satellite which orbited Earth. It was built at the University of Surrey and launched into low Earth orbit on 6 October 1981. It exceeded its anticipated two-year orbital lif ...

UO-11 UoSAT-2, which is also known as UO-11 and OSCAR-11, is a British satellite orbiting in Low Earth Orbit. The satellite functions as an amateur radio transmitter (known as an OSCAR) and was built at the University of Surrey. It launched into orbit ...

and UO-22 hamsat miniature

development and program, began the development of the satellite. Mehmud, then briefed the General Zia and suggested to launch the satellite from Pakistani Satellite Launch Vehicle. However, having found difficulties in SLV-required technology, the idea of Pakistani SLV was postponed and later was cancelled. Mehmud retired from

in 1989 as a chief scientist and was transferred in

DESTO Desto Records was an American record label. It was founded in 1951 by Horace Grenell who had a mail order business of selling children's records and was looking to expand genres. The first issue was a three disc edition of ''The Beggars Opera''. It ...

. In 1990,

was finally launched via

Long March 2E The Long March 2E, also known as the Chang Zheng 2E, CZ-2E and LM-2E, was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket from the Long March 2 family. The Long March 2E was a three-stage carrier rocket that was designed to launch commercial communications sat ...

rocket from

Xichang Satellite Launch Center The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC), also known as the Xichang Space Center, is a spaceport of China. It is located in Zeyuan Town (), approximately northwest of Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. The facility ...

Support for rocket science in Pakistan

Mehmud has been a vocal supporter of rocket science and technology in Pakistan. He, along with other scientists, has raised his voice in different occasion for Pakistan's space program as well as a Pakistan's satellite launch vehicle project. His efforts were involved in Pakistan's pursuit for peaceful use of satellite technology and has been a strong supporter of science in Pakistan.

Legacy

Mehmud's profile has been kept in secrecy but it is known that he has work in Pakistan's aerospace weapon development program agency,

. It is unknown whether how long did he stay there and when was he took his retirement from the agency. However, it is known that he has played a "father-like" role in the establishment of the Sonmiani and Tilla

spaceports A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

and have been a scientist behind the Pakistan's solid-fuel rocket firing program during the 1960s. Along with other Pakistani scientists, Mehmud's profile and credits have been kept in high level of ambiguity. Mehmud's credit and work, such as other noted Pakistani scientists, have kept lower than Dr.

Abdul Qadeer Khan Abdul Qadeer Khan, (; ur, ; 1 April 1936 – 10 October 2021), known as A. Q. Khan, was a Pakistani Nuclear physics, nuclear physicist and metallurgist, metallurgical engineer. He was a key figure in Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction ...

. Currently, he has been retired from Pakistan's strategic program and remained untouch to the other Pakistan's classified program. As of 2009, he is the chief Scientific and Technological Advisor at the Ministry of Communications of Pakistan.

Research papers

* Pakistan's Space Programme, by Salim Mehmud, published as a part of Space Policy in August 1989. * Pakistan and Earth Observation System, by Salim Mehmud. * Pakistan and Geostationary satellites, by Salim Mehmud

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmud, Salim University of the Punjab alumni Pakistani nuclear physicists Pakistani aerospace engineers Pakistani scientists Pakistani scholars Pakistani nuclear engineers North Carolina State University alumni Project-706 Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission people Living people Pakistan Army civilians Administrators of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Rocket scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Aerospace engineers