Iran launched a small Earth-observing satellite into orbit today (Feb. 3), marking the country's first successful mission since a failed attempt to put a monkey in space last year, according to state news reports.
The Iranian Space Agency launched the new "Promise of Science and Industry" satellite into orbit today using a Safir 1-B rocket, according to a translation of a statement posted to the agency's Farsi-language website. Safir means "Ambassador" in Farsi.
The new Iranian satellite weighs about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and was built by students at the Sharif University of Technology, according to a report by Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency.
According to the Iranian Space Agency, the satellite is shaped like a cube that is nearly 20 inches (50 centimeters) wide. It is circling Earth in an elliptical orbit and passes over Iran six times a day. The satellite will fly a two-month mission and is controlled via five ground stations, one each in the cities of Karaj, Tabriz, Qeshm, Bushehr and Mashhad, Iranian space officials said.
The Islamic Republic of Iran successfully launches its second satellite christened Rassad (Observation) into the earth's orbit.Another impressive feat made all the more so as the Islamic Republic of Iran is under multiple sets of economic and technological sanctions.
The satellite, which is the country's first such imaging device, was launched by the Safir-e-Rassad satellite carrier on Wednesday thanks to Iranian aerospace scientists and experts' endeavor, IRNA reported.
Despite its 15.3-kilogram weight, which puts it under the category of the micro-satellites, Rassad has all features of a big satellite.
It has undergone all the stages required for its designing, manufacturing, assembly, test and preparation for launch inside the country.
It will orbit the earth at an altitude of 260 kilometers 15 times every 24 hours.
Its mission is to take images of the earth's surface and relay them to the earth-based stations together with telemetric information.
The satellite is equipped with solar panels and uses solar energy to work.
Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite Omid (Hope) in 2009, which made it the ninth country to develop satellite launch capability.
Tehran also plans to launch the country's first manned mission to space by 2019.
Safir-1B IRILV second stage tank bottom with engines and nozzle extensions, and first stage engine purportedly using new domestically produced "very high energy" fuel.
Satellite prototypes. Unveilings included the Zafar (Victory), Rasad 1 (Observation 1), Fajr (Dawn), Autsat and Masud 2.
Iran's Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi says Tehran plans to unveil a new range of missile and satellite projects during the Ten Days of Dawn celebrations.
Fajr (dawn) is the first satellite with the ability to change from the elliptical orbit of 300-450 kilometers to a circular orbit of 450 kilometers which increases the life expectancy of the satellite by one year and a half,” Vahidi said on Sunday.
The Rasad (observation) satellite is the country's first satellite for photography, Vahidi said at the inauguration ceremony of the Middle East's biggest center of laboratories for testing space structures and systems.
“The thrust of the Safir (ambassador) 1-B rocket engine has been increased from 32 to 37, and it can carry a satellite weighing 50 kilogram's into an elliptical orbit of 300 to 450 kilometers,” IRNA quoted the Iranian defense minister as saying.
The other rocket, Kavoshgar (explorer) 4, has the ability to carry space laboratories containing biologic cargos within a range of 120 kilometers, Vahidi added.
Iran plans to launch a satellite into space soon using an Iranian-made rocket, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.
Iran has in the past launched satellites using rockets built by other nations, but this was the first announcement of such a launch with an all-Iranian made rocket.
Addressing a meeting with a group of Iranian expatriates in New York, where the Iranian president is attending the 63rd UN General Assembly session, Ahmadinejad said the rocket will have 16 engines and will take a satellite some 430 miles into space.
The satellite will likely be a commercial one for communication or meteorological research purposes. Iran has never announced plans to launch military satellites.
Earlier this month, Tehran announced that a joint research satellite built by Iran, China and Thailand, was sent into orbit by a Chinese-made rocket. At the time, Iranian officials said the three countries suffer from natural disasters and that the satellite would transmit photos to help deal with such crises.
Tehran sent its first commercial satellite into space on a Russian rocket in 2005. Last month, Iran tested a rocket which it hopes will one day carry an all-Iranian research satellite.
There were no details about what type of satellite the rocket would carry, and Ahmadinejad gave no time frame for the plan.
