Science News Roundup: Pakistan: first astronaut into space by 2022; India's moon mission lifts off

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Pakistan aims to send first astronaut into space by 2022

Pakistan said on Thursday it aims to send its first astronaut into space by 2022 and will begin selecting candidates next year. Neighbour and long-time rival India put its first astronaut into space in 1984 as part of a Soviet-led mission. It launched a rocket into space on Monday in an attempt to safely land a rover on the moon, its most ambitious mission yet.

Chinese rocket startup puts satellites into orbit for the first time

A rocket developed by iSpace put satellites into orbit after launch from a state facility in northwestern China on Thursday, marking the first successful orbital launch by a privately funded Chinese firm. iSpace's Hyperbola-1 rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) Thursday, sending two satellites and payloads into a predetermined orbit, the company said in a statement on its official Wechat account.

India's moon mission lifts off, hopes to probe lunar south pole

India launched a rocket into space on Monday in an attempt to safely land a rover on the moon, its most ambitious mission yet in the effort to establish itself as a low-cost space power. If successful, the $146 million mission will allow Indian scientists to carry out studies on the presence of water at the moon's south pole, unexplored by any other nation before.

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