Sonmiani Flight Test Range (FTR)
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A backgrounder
OTHER NAME: N/A
LOCATION: 50km W Karachi
SUBORDINATE TO: Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)
SIZE: 200-hectacres
FACILITY STATUS: Active
The Flight Test Range (FTR) at Sonmiani Beach is SUPARCO's primary rocket launch facility. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the National Defence Complex (NDC) also use the Somniami FTR for test-flights of solid-fueled ballistic missiles. Expanded and modernized in the 1990s, its facilities include rocket launchers; a rocket assembly workshop; a payload assembly area; high-speed tracking radars; a control room; a telemetry station; flight communications equipment; optical cameras; and a maintenance workshop.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SUPARCO collaboratively use the FTR as the launch site for sounding rockets. Somniami, however, has also hosted test flights of the Hatf-3/Ghaznavi (M-11) and Hatf-4/Shaheen-1, and the Hatf-6/Shaheen-2 solid-fueled ballistic missiles. In total, Somniami has hosted four known test flights of the Hatf-2/Abdali, five test flights of the Hatf-3/Ghaznavi, seven test flights of the Hatf-4/Shaheen-1, and five test flights of the Hatf-6/Shaheen-2.
