The lunar South Pole has emerged as a major focus of international space exploration due to its scientific potential. In view of this, Pakistan has also decided to send its own scientific mission there. The country’s first indigenous lunar rover, “Jinnah-1,” will head to the Moon’s South Pole in 2029 aboard China’s Chang’e-8 mission. The article argues that Pakistan’s decision reflects three key perspectives. Firstly, the gesture is symbolic as Islamabad also wants to be among the group of elite member countries conducting scientific research on the Moon, indicating its growing interest in the space sector. The decision signals the revival of an old rivalry on the Moon, as India reached the lunar South Pole with Chandrayaan-3 in 2023. Lastly, Jinnah-1 illustrates increasing cooperation between Pakistan and China in the space domain.
Jinnah-1 aims to explore and study the geological characteristics of the lunar surface and conduct key experiments for future lunar research. The rover is likely to weigh around 35 kg and have an expected price tag of approximately Rs400 million. It will have a panoramic camera, ground-penetrating radar, and a device to analyze minerals in lunar soil using infrared spectroscopy. It will also be equipped with a device for taking soil samples, analyzing and separating the noble gases contained therein, and storing them.
Before analyzing why Pakistan decided to send its own lunar mission, it is equally important to understand why states are sending their own expeditions to the Moon’s South Pole. The region is believed to be suitable for long-term human habitation due to its vast, untapped ice reserves. If the surface contains large quantities of ice, it can be used not only to produce hydrogen fuel for deep-space propulsion but also to provide drinking water for humans residing there. This will exponentially reduce costs for future lunar and interplanetary explorations. Moreover, it is also an area with elevated ridges, making it an ideal site for generating solar power and for constructing permanent structures that support human presence on the Moon.
Jinnah-1 reveals Pakistan’s renewed interest in the space sector and the country’s desire to become part of the leading states carrying out activities on the Moon for peaceful purposes. The country is taking this seriously as Pakistan seeks to broaden its space cooperation, using science, research and technology partnerships to build a knowledge-based economy and develop a new generation of engineers, scientists and innovators. For instance, Pakistan’s senior government minister, while meeting with aerospace companies during a visit to Houston in July 2026, aimed to deepen the country’s collaboration with the US space agency, NASA. He also said that Pakistan aims to launch its first national mission to the Moon by 2035 as part of a broader drive to advance the country’s space program.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 landing near the lunar South Pole in August 2023 was a moment when India became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and the first to land near the South Pole. The achievement generated domestic and international recognition. Jinnah-1’s targeting of the same lunar South Pole is not coincidental. The rivalry between India and Pakistan, which has been fought on land, in the air, over water, and in the domain of nuclear deterrence, has now acquired a new frontier. The rover’s name, invoking the founder of Pakistan, is deliberately juxtaposed with an Indian achievement named after Vikram Sarabhai (India’s Vikram lander).
Historically, the all-weather friendship between Islamabad and Beijing has been viewed through a security lens. However, the announcement of Jinnah-1 confirms that cooperation between the two brotherly countries extends beyond the military domain, as evidenced by deepening bilateral ties in the space domain. This is not the maiden collaboration between the two allies, as China has launched various Pakistani satellites into space, including the country’s inaugural lunar satellite, ICUBE-Q, indigenous electro-optical satellites E0-1, E0-2, E0-3, and PRSS-1, in the last two years only.
Besides, earlier this year, two Pakistani astronauts completed advanced assessments in China for a human spaceflight mission, with one expected to travel to a Chinese space station later this year. Pakistan is also the first country to deploy and benefit from the Chinese navigation system Beidou. Sino-Pak space cooperation, in short, is a manifestation of the peaceful use of space technologies, offering assistance and solutions to Islamabad’s environmental challenges as the country faces severe impacts from climate change despite contributing less than 1%. Jinnah-1’s journey to the lunar South Pole in 2029 reiterates Pakistan’s official stance of exploring celestial bodies for peaceful purposes and refraining from any action that could lead to the militarization of space. The mission signals that Islamabad’s ambitions in space are anchored in scientific contribution rather than in staking a geopolitical claim over the untapped resources present on the Moon. Finally, space cooperation is likely to be a domain of cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad, which would increase in an unprecedented manner given the trajectory of their current joint endeavors.
This article was published by The Diplomat in another form at https://thediplomat.com/2026/09/the-meaning-behind-pakistans-first-lunar-rover/
Abdul Moiz Khan is Research Officer at the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS), Islamabad.
