Pakistan’s national space agency, SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission), announced on Sunday that it has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HBL Microfinance Bank (HBL MfB) to introduce satellite-based agricultural analytics into the country’s lending system — a first for Pakistan.
The collaboration aims to bring space technology into climate-smart agriculture and improve financial access for farmers through data-driven lending decisions.
As part of the pilot program, SUPARCO will provide remote pre-loan assessments using high-resolution satellite imagery to evaluate crop health, estimate yields, and generate risk profiles. This data will feed into a scoring engine designed to determine creditworthiness at the farm level. A secure API and dashboard interface will allow HBL MfB to integrate this data directly into its lending systems, eliminating the need for on-ground verification.
The pilot phase will be launched in Okara District, Punjab, one of Pakistan’s most vital agricultural zones.
In the next phase, SUPARCO will enable post-loan satellite monitoring so that HBL MfB can remotely track crop progress and receive early warnings about anomalies or risks to the harvest, ensuring better management of agricultural loans.
This development comes as Pakistan continues to advance its space program with support from China:
In July 2025, China launched Pakistan’s PRSS-1 remote sensing satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, aimed at land surveys, disaster monitoring, and development planning.
In January, Pakistan's domestically developed Electro-Optical (EO-1) satellite was launched by China to support natural disaster forecasting and resource monitoring.
In May 2024, Pakistan launched its first lunar satellite aboard China’s Chang’e-6 mission to explore the moon’s far side.
Looking ahead, SUPARCO plans to send a rover aboard China’s Chang’e-8 lunar mission in 2028, further deepening space cooperation between the two nations.
SUPARCO said the integration of space-based analytics into agricultural lending not only marks a technological milestone but also aligns with Pakistan’s goals of improving food security, rural livelihoods, and resilience to climate change.