ISLAMABAD (Islam Online) - Pakistan has completed the construction of its first submarine and plans to start selling submarines to Asian countries, according to the head of the country's Navy.
Pakistan, the only Muslim country with nuclear technology, is also almost ready to launch its second satellite, Badr B, announced the head of the Pakistani Space Research Council, Dr. Abdul Majid. "Most probably the launch will take place in March," he said.
Admiral Abdul Aziz Imbeza said that the submarine, named August 90-B, is a Pakistani-French co-production. The first and second vessels were built in France, but the third one was just completed in the Karachi harbor.
Imbeza said there were negotiations with three Asian countries interested in producing the submarine for themselves, but he would not name the countries.
In 1994 Pakistan launched Badr A (Badr means moon, or satellite) from a Chinese launch pad. Badr A remained in orbit for four months.
Badr B weighs 70 kilograms. It will be put into orbit on a Russian Zenith 2 rocket from a Russian-run launch pad in Kazakhstan. Badr B, which will hover 1,000 km. over Earth, has a life expectancy of two to three years. Pakistani and Russian experts are conducting studies on the satellite in Moscow.
Abdul Majid said that Pakistan might have the capacity to launch its own satellites within three years.
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