Aerospace and National Security
Domain of aerospace
Sophisticated and cutting-edge technology is evolving at an astronomical pace impacting every aspect of human life; rapid innovations and developments in technologies, artificial intelligence, big data, aerospace, and quantum computing pose an escalating challenge to developing countries like Pakistan to keep pace with such developments. In the domain of aerospace, there is considerable room for expanding national capacity and infrastructure.
It demands taking timely initiatives for wide-ranging research and development, an adaptation of curricula, capacity building, and modifying national systems in line with the imperatives of new technologies.
NASTP launched by PAF
The Pakistan Air Force has accepted the challenge by launching the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP), a comprehensive flagship programme to hone and consolidate national capabilities in the aerospace industry through the creation of world- class clusters and innovation hubs across the country. This initiative promises a transformational impact in the fields of aerospace and aerial defence.
In the last five decades, a handful of countries leading in space technology made tremendous progress in exploration and deployment of space-based stations and a vast range of assets with varying functions and capabilities.
The top space farers include the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union. Numerous countries have the technology to build satellites, including Pakistan. However, only eleven countries are believed to have the capability to launch objects into orbit using their own launch vehicles. India falls in the latter category.
In 2018, India established a Defence Space Agency (DSA) equipped with space-warfare capability and satellite intelligence assets and reportedly carried out an anti-satellite test in 2019. These developments may lead to an asymmetry in outer space capabilities to the disadvantage of Pakistan.
The National Space Agency of Pakistan, SUPARCO, was founded in 1961 on the advice of Professor Abdus Salam, and became an autonomous organisation in 1967 under the stewardship of Air Commodore W J M Turowicz, a PAF pilot of Polish origin who became its first Executive Director.
SUPARCO conducts useful and high-quality research and development work in the field of space science, technology, and its applications for peaceful purposes. SUPARCO is responsible for Pakistan’s satellite programme for a range of diverse peaceful purposes. So far, Pakistan-made satellites are launched into orbit by Chinese space vehicles.
At the international level, the UN-based legal frameworks are limited in scope to regulate activities in outer space, though the United Nations has adopted several treaties. The most significant legal instrument is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
The important principles embodied in the Treaty are ‘the freedom of exploration and use of space for the benefit and interest of all countries, the non-appropriation of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and the prohibition of the deployment of nuclear weapons or other kinds of weapons of mass destruction in outer space’. There are four other treaties in force that reinforce the framework set by the Outer Space Treaty (The Rescue Agreement of 1968; The Liability Convention of 1972; The Registration Convention of 1975; The Moon Agreement of 1979).
New technologies are making space-based assets more complex, more efficient, and more adept at dual-use scenarios. The leading space powers are maximizing the military application of space-based systems within the loopholes of the Outer Space Treaty. Due to the ever-evolving nature of technology and increasing fragility of the global order, security threats pertaining to outer space are multiplying. The ever-increasing integration of weapons, technologies, platforms, and dedicated force structures are a source of serious concern for peace-loving nations.
At the United Nations, therefore, Pakistan has been strongly advocating the need for reinforcing the existing normative and legal architecture governing the security dimension of outer space. Unfortunately, despite being on the agenda of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva for nearly 10 years, negotiations on ‘Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space’ (PAROS) have been prevented by powerful states.
Pakistan recognizes the value of ‘Transparency and Confidence Building Measures’ (TCBMs) in promoting trust and confidence among states. However, such voluntary measures are no substitute for legally binding treaty-based obligations.
It is against this background and to bridge the existing technology and infrastructure gaps, that Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu — Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force — has visualized, carefully nurtured, and finally put in place a farsighted and comprehensive plan for the growth of ‘in-country capabilities in the well-established as well as emerging and disruptive technologies in aerospace, cyber, IT, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing domains’ to be harnessed under the aegis National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP).
This commendable project that has materialised in record time is of veritable strategic importance. National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) will serve as Pakistan’s first Aerospace Cluster. A state-of-the-art Special Technology Zone (STZ) is foreseen to be established to house high-tech aerospace technologies design centres, public and private, national and international aviation industry, maintenance repair and operations (MRO) facilities for commercial & military aircraft, aviation logistics, expo centres, and advanced vocational training institutes. NASTP would thus provide the much-desired industry-academia linkages in a world-class environment for applied research and development for design and innovation in the aviation, space, and cyber domains.
These efforts must be complemented by enhancing close collaboration and establishing joint ventures with friendly countries. Joining hands will serve as a force and quality multiplier and produce desired results in a shorter timeframe.
NASTP is a model for a quick transition to innovative technologies with an elaborate infrastructure of capacity building in transformational technologies critical for national security and self-reliance, and an example to emulate by other stakeholders.
