Iran Building New Satellite Launch Base | ||
Iran Building New Satellite Launch Base Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said the Islamic Republic is completing the construction of a new space center to put more indigenous satellites into orbit. “The new space center, the physical construction of which has been completed by 80 percent, can put satellites into orbit for Iran and other regional and Islamic countries in the near future,” Vahidi said. He said the first indigenous Iranian satellite to be launched from the new center will be the Tolou (Rise) via Simorgh (Phoenix) carrier. He said the new space launch center is named after the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini. Meanwhile, an Iranian official announced that the country is set to launch a high resolution student satellite tasked with taking images of the earth. Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said the satellite is part of a project by Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology and will be launched in the current Iranian calendar year (started March 2012) via the indigenous Safir (Ambassador) B-1 satellite carrier. He added that the satellite’s high precision equipment and 12.5-meter resolution capability make it very suitable for taking photographs. Fazeli said more than 100 students, alumni and faculty members have contributed to the design and construction of the microsatellite, which weighs 50 kg and fits in a 40 x 40 x 40 cm cube. The Islamic Republic launched its first indigenous satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February 2010, using the indigenous Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier. Moreover, in June 2011, Iran put the 15.3-kilogram Rasad (Observation) orbiter in space. Rasad's mission was to take images of the Earth and transmit them along with telemetry information to the ground stations. Iran also launched Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry), an indigenous telecom, measurement and scientific satellite, into orbit on February 3, 2012. Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959. Tehran also plans to launch the country's first manned mission to space by 2019.
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