View source for Sonmiani Flight Test Range

{{Short description|Pakistani rocket launch facility}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Cleanup-rewrite|date=October 2024}}
{{other uses|Sonmiani Beach}}
{{Infobox Government agency
| agency_name     = Sonmiani Flight Test Range
| nativename      = 
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| formed          = 1961
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| parent_agency   = [[Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission]] (SUPARCO)
| headquarters    = [[Sonmiani]], Balochistan, Pakistan
| coordinates     = {{coord|25|12|N|66|45|E|type:landmark_region:AR_dim:2000|display=title, inline}}
| pushpin_map     = Pakistan
| pushpin_map_caption     = Sonmiani Flight Test Range location in Pakistan
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| website         = [https://www.nti.org/education-center/facilities/sonmiani-flight-test-range-ftr/ NTI Sonmani FTR]
| footnotes       = 
| map             = File:Hub-District-Map-with-Tehsils-complete.jpg
| map_width       = 200px
| map_caption     = Sonmani Flight Test Range though its accuracy is questionable.
}}
The '''Flight Test Range''' (FTR) at [[Sonmiani Beach]] is a [[List of rocket launch sites|rocket launch site]] in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], approximately {{convert|50|km|mi}} west of [[Karachi]], [[Sindh]], [[Pakistan]].<ref name="astronautix">{{cite web |title=Sonmiani |url=http://www.astronautix.com/s/sonmiani.html |website=www.astronautix.com}}</ref>

The facility is operated by the [[Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission|Space Research Commission]] since 1961, initially focusing on supporting civilian space program involving the launch of [[sounding rocket]]s but its present mission has now been moved towards military programs.{{rp|118}}<ref name="University of Washington Press, Mistry, 2003">Dinshaw, Mistry, Containing Missile Proliferation: Strategic Technology, Security Regimes, and International Cooperation in Arms Control (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003), p. 118</ref><ref name="Sonmiani Flight Test Range, NTI">{{cite web |title=Sonmiani Flight Test Range |url=https://www.nti.org/education-center/facilities/sonmiani-flight-test-range-ftr/ |access-date=19 March 2023}}</ref>

== History==

Initially established at '''Sonmiani Rocket Range'''<ref name="Histroy by Suparco">{{cite web |title={{as written|Hist|roy [sic]}} |url=https://suparco.gov.pk/about-us/histroy/ |website=suparco.gov.pk |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023201344/https://suparco.gov.pk/about-us/histroy/ |archive-date=23 October 2021}}</ref> in 1961, the Sonmiani Flight Test Range is the only rocket launch facility operated by the [[Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission]].{{rp|135}}<ref name="KnowledgeWorld .Nair, 2006">{{cite book |last1=Nair |first1=Kiran Krishan |title=Space: The Frontiers of Modern Defence |date=2006 |publisher=KnowledgeWorld . |isbn=978-81-87966-44-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZBXL1i-n6UAC&dq=sonmiani+only+suparco&pg=PA193 |access-date=19 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="FAS, Pakistan bureau">{{cite web |title=Sonmiani - Pakistan Special Weapons Delivery Systems |url=https://nuke.fas.org/guide/pakistan/facility/sonmiani.htm |website=nuke.fas.org}}</ref> It was the crucial contribution from the American [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) that established the facility in 1961 with Suparco launching the [[Rehbar-I]] program that consisted of a [[Nike-Cajun]] combination on 7 June 1962.<ref name="Histroy by Suparco"/>{{rp|118}}<ref name="University of Washington Press, Mistry, 2003" /><ref name="astronautix" />

In 1989, the Sonmiani FTR mission was moved from supporting the civilian space program towards supporting the military program when [[Hatf-I]] (lit. ''Target'') was launched from the facility.<ref name="astronautix" /> Since 1990, the Sonmiani FTR has been expanded and modernized that now includes the several rocket launch sites,  a rocket assembly and a maintenance workshop; a payload assembly area; high-speed tracking radars with a control room and telemetry station; flight communications equipment and optical cameras.<ref>“Missile Flight Tests,” The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 31 January 2011, www.iiss.org.</ref> It is currently spread across {{convert|200|ha}} and located approximately {{convert|50|km}} west of [[Karachi]].<ref name="Sonmiani Flight Test Range, NTI" />

The Sonmani FTR, not a [[space center]], now serves as a primary launch site for Pakistani military's missile testing program, namely launching the Hatf program (''Target''), including four tests of [[Hatf-II]], two of [[Hatf-III]], seven of [[Hatf-IV Shaheen|Hatf-IV]] and five of [[Shaheen-II|Hatf-VI]].<ref>“Missile Flight Tests,” The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 31 January 2011, www.iiss.org.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=PKAFSC |url=http://www.astronautix.com/p/pkafsc.html |website=www.astronautix.com |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Mashhood Test Firing Range]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.suparco.gov.pk|SUPARCO official website}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150824115306/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/sonmiani.htm Astronautix.com page on Sonmiani]

{{Pakistanspaceagency}}
{{Pakistan Air Force main}}
{{Spaceport}}
{{Lasbela-Union-Councils}}

[[Category:Science and technology in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Space programme of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Rocket launch sites in Pakistan]]
[[Category:SUPARCO facilities]]
[[Category:1962 establishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Military installations in Balochistan, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Installations of the Pakistan Air Force]]
[[Category:Sonmiani Bay|Flight]]