Pakistan has won three honours at the International Space Games (ISG) 2026 in Moscow, where an 11-member delegation led by the Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad, represented the country from 26 October to 1 November 2026, alongside delegations from eight countries.
Three Honours at the Closing Ceremony
At the closing ceremony, Team Pakistan earned Best Mission Control Centre (MCC) Team, Best Flight Engineer and Outstanding Overall Coordination — three category honours recognising the delegation’s performance across the Games, rather than a single overall championship title.
The Games put crews through simulated Mars-habitat expeditions, engineering, scientific and mission-control tasks, and emergency scenarios, testing technical skill, decision-making and teamwork under pressure.
The Team Behind the Achievement
The habitat crew comprised Ayesha Jamil, Fakhar Arooj, Alishba Tanveer, Maheera Fatima and Hafiz Muhammad Abdullah. Syeda Maryam Murtaza and Humail Amir Nawaz represented Mission Control, while Mohammad Daniyal Hasnain and Talha Zubair served as consulting experts.
Dr Rehan Mahmood and Engr Maheen Zulfiqar served as professional jury members. Dr Mahmood, Associate Professor at IST and Director SSTRL/NCGSA, was also Pakistan’s National Coordinator and Head of Delegation.
MARS-LINK: Pakistan’s Technical Contribution
Pakistan also brought its own experiment to the Games. MARS-LINK (Crew-Coordinated Delay-Tolerant Mission Operations under Compound Mars Anomalies) is a Mars mission-operations and Digital Twin model experiment, and the delegation used it during the Games.
MARS-LINK was proposed and provided by IST’s Small Satellite Technology & Research Lab (SSTRL), National Center of GIS and Space Applications (NCGSA), in cooperation with CubeSTEM, which supported its Digital Twin, software and technical implementation. The experiment examines how crews make decisions under delayed Earth–Mars communication, resource constraints, disrupted links and compound anomalies.
The organising HSE University formally accepted MARS-LINK into the official ISG Model Experiment Programme through a signed letter dated 28 October 2026 — making Pakistan not just a participant in Moscow, but a contributor to the programme itself.
For a team of young space professionals and students, the three honours and a place in the official experiment programme mark a significant achievement for Pakistan’s growing space community.
