On 25 April 2026, a Long March 6 (CZ-6) rocket launched the PRSC-EO3 – Pakistan’s third and final electro-optical remote sensing satellite – from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Shanxi province. The PRSC-EO3 satellite entered its planned sun-synchronous orbit, marking the 640th mission of China’s Long March rocket series.
The PRSC-EO3 was developed by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan’s national space agency, as the final satellite in the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite Electro-Optical System (PRSC-EOS) program. According to SUPARCO, the PRSC-EO3 will support disaster management, environmental protection, agricultural assessment, and natural resource surveying.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari described the Pakistan satellite launch as a “historic milestone” and cited it as evidence of the country’s growing technical expertise. SUPARCO officials have also framed the PRSC-EO3 as an example of Pakistan’s pursuit of self-reliance in satellite design and production.
PRSC-EO3 Specifications: What May Differentiate It From SUPARCO’s Earlier Satellites
SUPARCO has not released detailed technical specifications for any of the three PRSC-EO satellites. However, the available reporting offers some basis for inference.
The PRSC-EO1, launched in January 2025, was described as Pakistan’s first indigenously built electro-optical imaging satellite. Its predecessor – the Chinese-supplied PRSS-1 – captured multi-spectral images at a resolution of roughly 3 m.
The PRSC-EO1 likely represented a step forward, potentially achieving sub-1 m resolution in its panchromatic band if SUPARCO drew on the specifications of the planned PRSS-O2 that was originally in the pipeline before the PRSC series replaced it. According to a SUPARCO official, the PRSC-EO1 has a designed lifespan of five years.
The PRSC-EO2, launched from a sea-based platform via China’s Smart Dragon-3 (SD-3) solid-fuel rocket in February 2026, carried a high-resolution EO payload. Quwa had previously noted that it was unclear whether SUPARCO planned a dedicated third EO satellite or whether the HS-1 had absorbed that role. The arrival of the PRSC-EO3 confirms that SUPARCO proceeded with a full three-unit EO constellation as originally planned.
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