Iranian space agency

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The Iranian Space Agency ( Persian سازمان فضایی ایران Sāzmān Fazāii Irān , English : Iranian Space Agency , ISA ) is the national space agency of Iran .

The President of the Agency is an official of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It was founded for the purpose of research in space and space technology . This includes earth observation and communication satellites . The agency meets the requirements of the Iranian Space Council (English: Iran Space Council, ISC), which for the peaceful exploration of space and the development of space technology, as well as for scientific research on the upper atmosphere was established. The chairman of the Iranian Space Council is the Iranian President, currently Hassan Rohani .

Satellites and missiles

Replica of the Omid satellite (2009)

Sinah-1 , the first Iranian satellite , was built by Russia and launched on October 28, 2005 with a Kosmos-3 rocket, making Iran the 43rd country to operate its own satellite. In the meantime, Iran has launched the in-house built Omid satellite with its own Safir-2 launcher.

Iran is developing Shahab family missiles similar to North Korea's Taepodong-2 .

Rocket launches

  • On February 4, 2008, Iran successfully launched the suborbital rocket Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1) from its new spaceport. The launch is considered to be an essential step in launching the first satellite into low orbit.
  • On February 2, 2009, the successful launch of a Safir-2 rocket was reported, which launched the first self-built Omid satellite into space.
  • On March 15, 2011, a space capsule with a Kawoschgar-4 rocket was launched from the launch site in Semnan Province . On the ballistic flight, the missile reached an altitude of 120 km.
  • On June 15, 2011, a Safir brought the 15 kg earth observation satellite Rasad 1 into orbit at an altitude of 260 km.
  • On October 12, 2011, the Deputy Minister of Science Mohammad Mehdinejad-Nouri announced that a flight of the Kawoshgar-5 rocket with a monkey on board had failed. The capsule was supposed to reach an altitude of 120 km in a suborbital flight of 20 minutes. The exact time of the launch was not specified, only the month of Shahriwar , which runs from August 23 to September 22.
  • The third satellite launch took place on February 3, 2012. A Safir rocket put the 50 kg satellite Navid-e Elm-o Sanat into orbit.
  • On January 28, 2013, Iranian news agencies reported the successful launch of a Kawoschgar rocket, which should be equipped with the space capsule "Pischgam" (pioneer). During this launch, a monkey is said to have been brought to an altitude of 120 kilometers and the capsule returned with the live animal on board. An exact time of the flight was not mentioned here either. Several scientists (including, for example, Yariv Bash, founder and head of the non-profit organization Space Israel) question the authenticity of the report that the monkey has returned alive. Especially after the Iranian news agency had to admit that the published photos of the monkey actually showed two different animals.
  • On February 2, 2015, a Safir rocket launches the Fajr satellite .

Space centers

The main launch site of the Iranian Space Agency is Emamshahr , from where the Shahab 3 suborbital missile was launched. Qom is the second starting place. Another starting point is in the Semnan Province .

Future projects

The director of the Iranian Space Agency stated in 2005 that the government would invest $ 500 million over the next five years to achieve its goals in the space sector.

A manned space mission was planned for 2024 and, according to a cabinet decision, should have taken place in 2018 or 2019. In December 2013, Mohammad Ebrahimi, the director of the Iranian space research center, announced that a suborbital manned space flight would even be possible in three to four years. However, the project had to be canceled early in 2017 due to unexpectedly high development costs.

Three new image satellites, the Zafar , Tolou and Autsat, are to be brought into orbit by the new Simorgh rocket . In contrast to Navid , Zafar should deliver color images in higher resolution.

The construction of further launch sites is being planned.

Web links

Commons : Iranian Space Agency  - collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: First manned space mission announced by Iran  - news

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Iranians inaugurate space project. BBC Online, February 4, 2008, accessed June 5, 2008 .
  2. ↑ Iran's Kavoshgar1 lifts off for space. Press TV, February 4, 2008, accessed June 5, 2008 .
  3. ↑ a b Iran shoots its own satellite into space. Handelsblatt, February 3, 2009, accessed October 17, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Iran sends rocket with animal menagerie into space. USA Today, February 3, 2010, accessed February 4, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Iran is testing space capsule. In: FliegerRevue . May 2011, p. 8
  6. ↑ Stephen Clark: Small observation satellite launched from Iran. Spaceflight Now, June 17, 2011, accessed June 21, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Iran 'failed' with space monkey launch. Agence France Press, October 13, 2011, accessed October 17, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Daniel Maurat: Iran launches Earth observation satellites. raumfahrer.net, February 3, 2012, accessed on February 5, 2012 .
  9. ↑ AFP: Spaceflight: Iran says it has sent monkeys into space. In: Zeit Online. January 28, 2013, accessed February 4, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Katja Mitic: Missile launch: Fake suspicion during space flight of an Iranian monkey. In: welt.de . February 2, 2013, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  11. ↑ AFP / AP / kami: Missile excursion: Iran clears up the monkey theater in space. In: welt.de . February 2, 2013, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Stephen Clark: Iranian satellite successfully placed in orbit. Spaceflight Now, February 2, 2015, accessed February 3, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Iran's Long-Range Missile Program: New Launch Facility Revealed. US Naval Institute, March 2010, accessed April 10, 2010 .
  14. ^ Iran Planning More Satellite Launch. In: Fars News Agency. August 16, 2010, archived from the original ; accessed on December 12, 2018 .
  15. ^ Research Official: Iran Plans to Send Astronauts into Space for Space Biology Studies. Fars News Agency, March 6, 2013, accessed March 8, 2013 (English): "He said that Iran has devised a two-staged plan to send man to the space by 1397 (March 2018 - March 2019)."
  16. ↑ Official: Iran to Send Astronaut into Space in 2024. Fars News Agency, December 24, 2013, accessed on December 28, 2013 (English): “The official added that Iran will be able to produce appropriate capsule with high safety and large dimensions equipped with emergency escape system to send astronomer into space to suborbital flight in next 3-4 years. "
  17. ↑ Rick Gladstone: Iran Drops Plan to Send Human Into Space, Citing Cost. In: The New York Times. May 31, 2017, accessed December 12, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Sputnik: Iran announces new satellite launches. October 5, 2014, accessed on February 3, 2015 (This news item was originally distributed by RIA Novosti, whose editors later joined forces with the voice of Russia to form Sputnik).
  19. ^ Iran to put Navid satellite into space. Press TV, October 8, 2011, archived from the original on March 28, 2012 ; accessed on October 9, 2011 (English, text and video).
  20. ↑ Iran Ready to Send 6 Satellites into Space in Future. Fars News Agency, May 7, 2010, archived from the original ; accessed on May 8, 2010 (English).