Subordinate To: Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)
Address: Islamabad Institute of Space Technology
P.O. Box 1271
Islamabad 44000 Pakistan
Telephone: 92-51-4491230/4491549/4491242
Fax: 92-51-4491070
Email: aerospin@paknet2.ptc.pk
URL: http://www.suparco.gov.pk/aero_laborat.htm
Primary Function: The Aerospace Institute is Pakistan's sole institution for training personnel in the fields of space technology. It also serves as a recruiting and training ground for engineers, scientists, and personnel involved in Pakistan's missile programs.

Description and Activities:
The Aerospace Institute was established by SUPARCO on the SGS campus near Islamabad in 1998; it is Pakistan's sole institution of advanced learning and research in the field of space technology. The Aerospace Institute enlists candidates and trainees from SUPARCO, defense-related research and development institutions, armed services, industry, and foreign countries.

It offers courses that have a bearing on missile and other defense-related applications. These cover material sciences; propulsion systems; guidance and control systems; quality assurance; production and manufacturing engineering; launch vehicles; aerodynamics/space dynamics; fluid dynamics; satellite and aerospace structure; thermodynamics, heat trasnduser and thermal sciences; electronics; signal and systems; satellite communication; electro-optics; lasers; tracking, telemetry, digital communications; instrumentation; design and development of ground terminals; applications; satellite-based data collection systems; computer hardware/software development; applied mathematics; numerical analysis techniques; reliability theory; orbital mechanics; and mission planning.

These courses are taught by the institute's full-time faculty members. However, specific courses on quality assurance/material research, software development, guidance and control, radars and applications, missile technology, structural vibration, lasers and electro-optics, and numerical analysis techniques are taught by visiting faculty from SUPARCO, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), and the Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Technology (PIEAS).

The Aerospace Institute has eight laboratories for research and development in the areas of pneumatics, hydraulics, programmable logic control, vibration, fluid flow, propulsion, computer systems, and software development. It is also in the process of establishing a design and development cell, a facility for unmanned aerial vehicle research (UAV), workshop facilities, and upgrading the existing the simulation and computational facilities on campus.

Key Sources: Aerospace Institute, Islamabad, SUPARCO, <http://www.suparco.gov.pk/aerospace_first.htm>; SUPARCO Establishments, http://www.suparco.gov.pk/establishment.htm>; Islamabad Institute of Space Technology, <http://www.angelfire.com/biz/aerospin>.

	Updated December 2003