Only $5 Million

#15 by spider on February 5, 2004 7:30am PT

So it is like an advertisement for army`s achievements.

Do we have more A.Q.Khans here as you obliquely pointed out??

To dispel all myths about PakSat-1, I want to make it clear that the satellite has no defense use whatsoever. It can`t be. Simply because it was never meant to be; its a communications satellite of potentially no miltary use. Besides the frequencies are montiored at two foriegn ground stations: one located in London(see the pic above) and the other is located at Perth Australia.
Also, although Paksat-1 is our first acquired `geostationary satellite`, it is not the first satellite of our country. We have had others such as the Badr series of satellites `indigenously built` by Suparco. The difference is that they were all LEO satellites.
The intent of this article is to shed light on the millions and billions being spent on this project. The figures invested for this project are frankly unbelievable. But what even more appalling is the greed of the individuals who have been (and still are) involved with this project. (More on this later)
....
Salman Siddiqui

pak tragedy,

Even when mushy was claiming the satelite as a pak success story, it was well known that it was a afraud. If I reneber correctly, it was even mentioned on chowk. No pakistani dared to take it up simply because it would be an admission of the truth. It could be termed unpatriotic to expose the hollownwss of the pak mindset.

I have seen it so many times on chowk YLH claimed several times that there are streets and colleges named after abdus salam as proof that how secular pakistanis are. YLH even claimed that hoodboy ius a lier because once he mentioned that abdus alam is a non entity in pakistan.
No one on chowk dared to correct YLH. The view was that if the indian on chowk cannot find the truth, then so be it, why expose the white wash attempts of another pakistani. All of the pakistaniuss believe that it is only a question of propaganda, there is nothing like truth. YLH remains a goos example who for years believed that other indians on chowk will beleve that abdus salam is a respected person in pakistan.

I think this satellite is just to enable Paki army fulfil its strategic communication requirements. Most probably the Army would use it to provide logistic suppport to the Jehadis in Afganistan and Kashmir. That is why it is NOT a commercial venture.

Arjun whoever said Indians and Indian policy makers weren`t Pakistan centric never chatted with you on chowk.

India`s first satellite was launched in `74 I think. That makes pak 30 years behind.

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#8 by Layman on February 3, 2004 7:53pm PT

Cheers! You can`t change anything-

assad_k #4:
You must admit that Musharraf did say that Pakistan`s space programme is now ahead of India`s programme, when it patently was not. But facts apart, why did he have to do a comparison with India in the first place? That says something for the mindset of the man, and probably the country.

I have been reading the Pak press for the past six years now, over the internet. I have seen an amazing ability of the Pak govt to tell blatant lies, lies that are swallowed by its media. Some ones that come to mind are:
- Pak military is not involved in Kargil, it was just mujahideen (they have been using this line since 1948!)
- Pak missile program is indigenous
- Pak does not proliferate its nuclear weapons
- Al Qaida not in Pakistan
- Kashmiri terrorism is all indigenous

Where is the credibility? Musharraf is supposed to be a straight talker and a blunt man, but what comes out of his mouth are lies.

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Come now, Irfan, is there any - *any* - country in the world that would come out and say that `Um... sorry, people, we screwed up completely, sat around while our orbital slots lapsed and really, this is a bad deal but we didn`t have much choice.` (if you can think of one, na-na-na, I can`t hearrrr you!). No, but seriously.. the release of the Hutton report, unrelated as it is to satellites, was the final nail in the coffin of government accountability - of any government, anywhere. Will we bluster? Will we flim flam? Damn right, and we can do it as well as anyone else.
Mind you, soon enough I`ll probably post something asking for the moral fibre and accountability of which you speak. Then this post will come back to haunt me...

I gather that the reason Pakistan went for this apparently absurd solution was to preserve their orbital slot which they would otherwise have lost.

Interestingly - and I suspect someone else may point it out as well - It looks like leasing Paksat was more of a desperation move (which dovetails nicely with the other `myopia` article). It seems that Pakistan was alloted 5 orbital slots, 4 of which had lapsed and the last of which was due to lapse in April 2003. Losing this slot would have peed all over any planned Pakistani presence in geostationary orbit. Unfortunately Mr. Siddiqui does not mention this in his analysis.

Should Pakistan have leased a better satellite? Sure, why not. Was one available for a comparative cost? Are we losing money on its underutilization? Yup, but thats a marketing issue. Sounds to me like the way Pakistan almost got cut out of the undersea internet cable (thanks, PTCL!). Should we have our own indigenously produced satellite there instead? Well, of course, but I suspect that 6 months is a short time span to design and build one (since the project seems to have remained on the drawing board). Should Pakistan have lost its sole remaining orbital spot? Well, I`ll leave it for others to argue whether we really NEED a place in space. Mind you, had the orbital slot been lost, then we`d probably be seeing an article pointing out how we had lost the space - no pun intended - by doing nothing (I can see it now.. it would probably suggest that we could have leased a satellite and moved it into position!).

And Arjun, you must take a job as a spin doctor. After all, from your selected text, it seems as if Musharraf and the Dawn are saying that Pakistan launched the satellite into space ourselves (next to Chagai, perhaps).
http://www.dawn.com/2003/01/26/top1.htm
Though I`ll add a couple of choice comments left out by you.
<``I am really delighted to note that Pakistan`s space programme now is a reality and our scientists must build our own indigenous satellite within three years instead of five years,`` he said. The president pointed out that four educational channels will aid the government to provide free education.

The satellite hired by Pakistan was relocated at 38 degree east by the country`s own space scientists. With a lifetime of five to eight years, it will mainly transmit educational programmes. >

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Salman Siddiqui:

You make a good case against the acquisition of the satellite. But there is only one thing that goes in its favor and which I think outweighs the cons. The fact is that there is an international regulatory body which allocates geosynchronous spots for satellites. And we have already lost, I think, two spots allocated to us. A country has to launch or position a satellite during a certain time period or its spot gets allocated to another. So just think of it as a $5 million plug in the tub to keep the water from leaking out.

arjun_m:

True, that was a shameful exaggeration on our part. We didn`t build it, we didn`t launch it, hell we didn`t even reposition the damn thing. And before a pack of rabid patriots start mistaking me for a humping doll, I`d like to clarify that I`m as patriotic as the next guy. But we must, as a nation, have enough moral fiber to call a spade a spade. In the long run, it will help us out.

But let it be said that if Pakistan`s fetish is to get into a pissing contest, then India`s is to cry foul and run home to mommy. Like I`ve said before a few times, every incident in India from a derailment of a train in Assam to a pigeon crapping on Gandhi`s statue in Delhi (assuming there is one) can be directly, irrefutably, and instantly linked to the ISI. Both sides need to sort themselves out, live together peacefully, and bring their enormous resources to bear upon the problem of alleviating the trouble of the respective common man in each country.

Regards,
Irfan Hamid.

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