Islamabad, May 21 (IANS) Pakistan and China would jointly launch a communication satellite Aug 14 to mark the country's Independence Day, it was reported here.
The new communication satellite would replace the SAT-1 which is on the verge of expiry, Dawn quoted an official as saying in Beijing.
The satellite would go into orbit Aug 14 as a mark of friendship between Pakistan and China, an official said after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's visit to China's Academy of Space Technology (CAST) Friday.
Gilani's trip to China is his first foreign visit after the May 2 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US commandos in Abbottabad.
Pakistan had launched its first satellite with Chinese cooperation in 1990.