Ghased

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Ghased before the first start

The Ghased ( Persian قاصد, German "Ambassador") is an Iranian launcher that is used for the transport of small satellites into low earth orbits .

background

Iran operates at least two space programs. Are generally known activities at Spaceport Imam Khomeini Space Center near the city of Semnan are located in the north of the country. Here the Iranian Space Agency launches the Safir and Simorgh missiles , which are primarily intended to serve civilian purposes. The missions are usually announced in advance, and Iran provides information on the technical data and function of the launched satellites.

About 170 kilometers to the northeast, in a facility near Schahrud , the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is also working on rocket technology under great secrecy. According to Western observers, this is where the Ghased rocket was created, but nothing was publicly known about its existence until its first ( orbital ) launch.

technology

The rocket is about 20 meters long and consists of three stages . The first stage was adopted or derived from the Iranian medium-range missile Shahab 3 ; accordingly it has a fluid drive . The second stage is a new development with solid propulsion . The Ghased is started from a mobile ramp .

Calls

The first orbital launch of a Ghased took place without prior notice on April 22, 2020 at around 6 a.m. CEST from a test site near Schahrud. The Revolutionary Guard announced that day that the rocket had successfully brought the “Nur” satellite (Persian نور, German “light”) into a 425 kilometer high orbit. According to media reports, it is the first military satellite in Iran. An image on the rocket showed an earth observation or reconnaissance satellite in 6U cubesat format. On the following day, US space surveillance confirmed the new satellite “Nour 01” in an orbit with a perigee of 426 km and an apogee of 436 km.

Start list

As of April 23, 2020

Date ( UTC ) Launch site payload Type of payload Orbit 1 Remarks
April 22, 2020
approx. 4 a.m. 		Shahrud Nour Military satellite 426 × 444 km success

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1Track on which the payload was dropped from the top step; not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norbert Bruges: Iranian Satellites, Gallery . b14643.de, accessed on April 23, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b Christoph Seidler: Iran brings military satellites into space . Spiegel Online , April 22, 2020.
  3. ↑ a b Scott Manley: Decoding Iran's New 'Qased' Rocket and the 'Noor' Satellite . Youtube video from April 27, 2020.
  4. ↑ Anatoly Zak: Space Exploration in 2020 . Russian Space Web, accessed April 23, 2020.
  5. ↑ Amir Vahdat and Jon Gambrell: Iran's Guard says it launched satellite amid US tensions . Associated Press , April 22, 2020.
  6. ↑ Iran's Revolutionary Guards 'successfully launch military satellite' . BBC News , August 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Twitter message from Jonathan McDowell , April 23 2020th
  8. ↑ Satellite catalog on Space-Track.org, accessed on April 23, 2020.