How can Pakistan’s aerospace industry benefit from the space industry?
In Pakistan, space science is still thought to be a far-fetched idea with little to no use in our educational and industrial sectors. But on the other side of the coin, the space industry has now accumulated to a value of more than $400 billion and has influenced a lot of industries in the world, specifically the aerospace Industry.
Influence on Aerospace Industry
The aerospace industry originated in 1903 when the Wright Brothers manufactured the first-ever airplane and after this, it has grown ever since with the help of the space industry. The research that came from the space industry helped the aerospace industry to develop sophisticated aircraft and provided it with modern technological advancement and facilities with experimental capabilities to make commercial and military aircraft more efficient. Dr. Tom Crouch, who was a senior curator for aeronautics at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, said that “It’s hard to think of any airplane flying nationally or internationally where NACA or NASA hasn’t contributed.”
Many new technologies were invented that helped pave the way for existing aircraft, for example:
Super-sonic aircrafts:
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is the fastest ever aircraft to date with a speed of more than 3,500kph. It would circle the earth in less than 12 hours, be capable of flying till 85,000 feet and was used by the CIA for military purposes.
SPIDER:
Self-propelled Instruments for Damage Evaluations and Repair was a robot which was manufactured with its purpose being to examine the body of an aircraft for small inconsistencies or holes which disrupted the airflow outside the aircraft’s body. This technology proved to be the most cost-effective and time-efficient method to inspect the aircraft.
Ice resistant airplane:
Ice was a huge problem for aircraft; as the airplane reached higher altitude, ice began to form around the engines which reduced the efficiency of airplanes and was also hazardous. NASA came up with technologies that prevented ice formation on spacecraft and implemented it on airplanes, saving a lot of time and money of the aerospace industry.
Innovative wing design:
The sophisticated wind tunnels that were made for the use of spacecraft proved to be beneficial for the aerospace industry as they introduced it to a very unique design of a wing called “Super-critical wing” which helped to reduce the shock waves that were felt by the airplane and this eventually reduced the drag too, saving the fuel costs for the industry and making the flight more efficient.
Economic impact by Space Industry
Since Pakistan has no space industry there is no data that can be given to prove how the economy benefits from it but the data of other countries that do have space industry shows tremendous growth.
According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the total revenue of California aerospace industry in 2012 came about $61.6 billion of which 72.89% came from the connection with the space industry which includes launch services ($1.5 Billion), Satellite manufacturing ($4.9 Billion), Ground Equipment ($4.6 Billion), Engineering services ($4.1 Billion) and Satellite services ($29.8 Billion).
The aerospace industry created more than 511,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs in California, which generated about $2.9 Billion worth of tax revenue for the Government too.
According to Dun and Bradstreet, Pakistan’s largest defense contractor for aerospace and military generated revenue of $7.71 million in 2020, with little to no connection in space. This is 0.0125% of the revenue that California generated in 2012. This clearly shows where Pakistan is lacking and where it needs to act immediately.
Employment in Pakistan
According to www.pc.goc.pk, Pakistan’s population is to reach 227 million by 2025 and as of now, according to Dawn, Pakistan’s unemployment rate will reach 9.56% which is 6.65 million unemployed people at the end of 2020. For educated people, the unemployment rate has reached 16.2%. So, there is a lot of untapped potential that Pakistan’s industries and economy can reap the advantage from and compete with all the aerospace industries in the world.
Summary
The space Industry has helped many industries, but it has had a profound influence on the Aerospace Industry by providing extensive research and experimental capabilities to make the aircraft more efficient and cost-saving. It has also favorably impacted the economy of many countries, and if it’s started in Pakistan, it can surely prove to be very beneficial.
