Iran plans to launch two homegrown satellites into space within next month
Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Hossein Salariyeh says the country plans to send two domestically-developed satellites into space onboard homegrown launch vehicles within the next month.
“Over the past three years, 12 launches have been carried out in the space industry, of which 10 were local and the remaining two were international. We will have many launches by the time the tenure of the incumbent administration ends. We have set plans for two launches within the next month,” Salariyeh noted.
The senior Iranian space official described the orbital launch of the Saman transfer block and the launch of an indigenous research satellite as the most immediate projects envisioned for the near future.
The Saman orbital transfer block is reportedly a system designed to place satellites in higher orbits, reducing costs and avoiding the need for large launch vehicles with high fuel consumption.
Despite sanctions imposed by Western countries in recent years, Iran has managed to take giant strides in the civilian space program.
It is among the world’s top 10 countries capable of developing and launching satellites.
Earlier this year, Iran successfully sent the homegrown Mahda research satellite, along with two research cargoes, to space onboard the domestically developed and manufactured Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite launch vehicle (SLV).
Mahda weighs 32 kilograms and its primary task is to test the satellite-related subsystems, verify the function of Simorgh SLV in dispensing space cargoes, and evaluate the performance of new designs and the reliability of indigenous technologies in space.
Earlier, the Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully put the Soraya satellite into an orbit 750 kilometers above Earth in 11 minutes.
The research satellite, manufactured by the ISA, was launched with a Qaem-100 space launch vehicle (SLV). Qaem-100 is a three-stage SLV with solid fuel developed by the IRGC Aerospace Force.
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