The Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies hosted a Tech Talk on 21 January 2026 titled Space and Pakistan’s Future: Mobilising the Youth and Fostering Innovation, bringing together researchers and practitioners to examine the evolving role of youth in the national space ecosystem.
Air Marshal (Retd) Javaid Ahmed, President CASS, said space is a core research area for the institute with significant strategic and developmental promise. He noted CASS provided policy-oriented inputs during the formulation of Pakistan’s Space Policy and underscored a gap in academic awareness, where space study often remains confined to physics while other disciplines are underexplored.
The keynote was delivered by Muhammad Iftekhar Yezdani, CEO of Raheqamar, who argued that with nearly 64 percent of the population under 30 Pakistan holds immense demographic potential to build a vibrant space sector. He urged a move from an attention economy to an aspiration economy by making space science more engaging, accessible and culturally resonant for young people.
Mr Yezdani proposed a four-pillar framework to nurture Pakistan space interest and innovation: Cultivate, Educate, Activate and Amplify. His recommendations included supporting local science content creators, integrating real-time satellite data into classroom learning, launching national space challenges and CubeSat programmes, strengthening incubators, and using digital platforms to form active learning communities around space topics.
He highlighted modern science communication tools such as short-form video, immersive platforms, narrative storytelling and gamification to capture youth imagination. Mr Yezdani emphasised that Pakistan’s next major step in space will be driven less by a single breakthrough and more by the collective imagination, skills and creativity of its young population.
In closing, the CASS president commended the presentation for underscoring a bottom-up approach to sector innovation and reiterated the need for sustained policy attention and institutional support to scale Pakistan space capabilities. He also noted Pakistan’s entry into the space domain as a positive development and pointed to the National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) as an initiative that can strengthen the national technological ecosystem.
