Sonmiani Flight Test Range

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title: "Sonmiani Flight Test Range" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["science-and-technology-in-pakistan", "space-programme-of-pakistan", "rocket-launch-sites-in-pakistan", "suparco-facilities", "1962-establishments-in-pakistan", "military-installations-in-balochistan,-pakistan", "installations-of-the-pakistan-air-force", "sonmiani-bay"] description: "Pakistani rocket launch facility" topic_path: "geography/pakistan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonmiani_Flight_Test_Range" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Pakistani rocket launch facility ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Government agency"]

Field	Value
agency_name	Sonmiani Flight Test Range
formed	1961
parent_agency	Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)
headquarters	Sonmiani, Balochistan, Pakistan
coordinates
website	NTI Sonmani FTR
map	File:Hub-District-Map-with-Tehsils-complete.jpg
map_width	200px
map_caption	Sonmani Flight Test Range though its accuracy is questionable.
::

| agency_name = Sonmiani Flight Test Range | nativename = | logo = | logo_width = | seal = | seal_width = | picture = | picture_width = | picture_caption = | formed = 1961 | date1 = | date1_name = | date2 = | date2_name = | preceding1 = | preceding2 = | parent_agency = Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) | headquarters = Sonmiani, Balochistan, Pakistan | coordinates = | employees = | budget = | chief1_name = | chief1_position = | chief2_name = | chief2_position = | child2_agency = | website = 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 rocket launch site in Balochistan, approximately 50 km west of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

The facility is operated by the Space Research Commission since 1961, initially focusing on supporting civilian space program involving the launch of sounding rockets but its present mission has now been moved towards military programs.

History

Initially established at Sonmiani Rocket Range in 1961, the Sonmiani Flight Test Range is the only rocket launch facility operated by the Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission. 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.

In 1989, the Sonmiani FTR mission moved from supporting the civilian space program towards also supporting the military program when Hatf-I (lit. Target) was launched from the facility. Since 1990, the Sonmiani FTR has been expanded and modernized that now includes 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. It is currently spread across 200 ha.

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 and five of Hatf-VI.

References

References

1. "Sonmiani".
2. Dinshaw, Mistry, Containing Missile Proliferation: Strategic Technology, Security Regimes, and International Cooperation in Arms Control (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003), p. 118
3. "Sonmiani Flight Test Range".
4. "{{as written".
5. (2006). "Space: The Frontiers of Modern Defence". KnowledgeWorld ..
6. "Sonmiani - Pakistan Special Weapons Delivery Systems".
7. “Missile Flight Tests,” The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 31 January 2011, www.iiss.org.
8. “Missile Flight Tests,” The International Institute for Strategic Studies, 31 January 2011, www.iiss.org.
9. "PKAFSC".

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