Iran is readying a new satellite to be fired into space, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, April 15).
(Nov. 10) -
An Iranian Safir 2 rocket, shown in 2008. Iran soon plans to launch a new satellite into orbit using the craft (Vahidreza Alai/Getty Images).
The Middle Eastern state prompted Western concerns about its ballistic missile capabilities earlier this year when it launched its first domestically produced communications satellite into space on a Safir 2 rocket, a craft believed to be a variant of the medium-range Shahab 3 ballistic missile. Much of the technology developed for the rocket is believed usable in ICBMs as well as civilian craft, according to UPI.
The new communications satellite, dubbed Mesbah, is expected to weigh 132 pounds, 10 times the weight of Iran's first orbiter. That satellite, Omid, burned up as it dropped back into the atmosphere in April.
Iran has not specified when it would conduct the launch, which is also expected to involve a Safir 2 rocket. If successful, the event could affect the nation's ongoing diplomacy with world powers over its disputed nuclear efforts, UPI indicated (see related GSN story, today).
The United States has tracked developments at Iran's Semnan Space Research Center since this summer, when Tehran announced that a second satellite was in preparation.
Iran plans in 2010 or 2011 to begin firing test animals into space on Shahab rockets; the nation would later carry out more sophisticated work in space involving animals. Tehran's space program aims to place begin placing humans in orbit by around 2021, said Iranian Telecommunications Minister Raza Taiq-pour (United Press International, Nov. 9).