Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Iran to Fire New Rockets into Space

Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Director Ahmad Talebzadeh said in Tehran today that ISA plans to send two new research rockets into space following the successful test of Explorer-1 rocket on 4 February.

Talebzadeh said Explorer-2 and Explorer-3 rockets will be sent into orbit “in the near future.” Informed sources have said that the two rockets will be launched by mid-March.
ISA on Sunday announced that the Explorer-1 is sending data back to earth from an altitude of up to 250 kilometers.

The Explorer-4 rocket is planned to carry Iran’s first homemade satellite named Omid (Hope) into orbit. No exact date for the launch has been announced.

The technologies required for launching a space rocket are similar to the technologies used in a long-range ballistic missile. Talebzadeh said, however, that Iran’s space activities are “absolutely peaceful.”

ISA has extended grants to Iranian universities to conduct research on designing and manufacturing of the satellites.

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