Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). “The satellite carriers have nothing to do with the subject of missiles, and constitute a completely non-defensive and non-military issue,” Defense Minister Amir Hatami said.

“While Tehran does not currently have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), its desire to have a strategic counter to the United States could drive it to develop an ICBM,” Lodewick said. At a Pentagon news conference Wednesday, senior officials called the satellite launch a provocation.

In addition, no country has developed an ICBM from its space launch technology base; space launch programs have generally developed from military ballistic missile programs. But on January 29, 2013, Iran announced that a monkey was sent into outer space and returned safely aboard the Pishgam capsule, an Iranian 300-kilogramm space capsule and associated rocket, after having reached an altitude of one hundred and twenty kilometres. “Each launch, whether failed or not, further allows Iran to gain experience using such technologies that could benefit its missile programs under the guise of a peaceful space program,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on February 11. Kavoshgar-5, carrying a monkey, was launched for a 20-minute sub-orbital flight in September 2011; however, the mission failed. It was tested from 1998 to 2003 and added to the military arsenal on July 7, 2003, with an official unveiling by Ali Khamenei on July 20. The Iranian space program is the result of research and development in the field of ballistic missiles initiated in the 1990s that allowed Iran, with the help of North Korea, to become a Space Nation. The launch of Omid made Iran the ninth country to develop an indigenous satellite launch capability. Otherwise, the Semnan Space Center is the primary Iranian Space Center, located fifty kilometres southeast of the city of Semnan in the north of the country.

By continuing to use the site, you accept our. Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, the sixth country to have sent animals in outer space, believes space technology will help improve its navigation and telecommunication infrastructures. “In addition, no country has developed an ICBM from its space launch technology base; space launch programs have generally developed from military ballistic missile programs.”. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) “share many similar technologies and processes inherent in a space launch program, but many years ago Iran outlined a long-term dedicated space launch effort (that has since slowed considerably) that is not simply a cover for ICBM development,” the report said. The Islamic Republic’s space program is young but is rapidly making progress. The recent attack may have demonstrated advances in the accuracy of Iran’s missiles. The first flights of this sounding-space-rocket probably carried instruments to measure the higher atmosphere. This was the first time that Iran sent a primate into space. The ISRC and the Iranian Space Agency are the main organizations carrying space research and operations in Iran. Iran Space Agency (and therefore the Iranian space program), founded in 2004, has expressed interest in cooperating with leading international space agencies. Launched aboard a Safir rocket, it was successfully placed into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Tehran announced that it would launch a Zafar-2 satellite into space by June 2020. Iran views its SRBM capability as necessary for battlefield and tactical military purposes. Article 3 of the STATUTE OF THE IRANIAN SPACE AGENCY then adds that “Agency’s tasks and authorizations are as follows: I. Pursuance and implementing the approvals of the Space Supreme Council, II.

It described the system as using both liquid and solid fuel. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched its first satellite into space Wednesday, dramatically revealing what experts described as a secret military space program that could advance its ballistic missile development amid wider tensions between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. The Simorgh (which means “phoenix” in Persian) rocket is an Iranian expendable small-capacity orbital carrier rocket, which was originally scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2010. There may be four versions of the Fateh-110 in service; one is apparently called the Khalij-Fars (“Persian Gulf”). Iran argues these missiles constitute an important deterrent and retaliatory force against U.S. and other forces in the region in the event of war. The Shahab-3 is a ballistic missile imported from the DPRK and based on the No-dong 1. The Islamic Republic’s Strategic Concept Compared to the attention paid worldwide to Iran’s missile program, Iran’s space programs … Such a system may allow Iran to more quickly fuel a rocket, something crucial in an offensive weapon system, Hinz said, while stressing more information was needed about the launch. The Iranian Space Agency (ISA), founded in February 2004, is Iran’s governmental space agency. Omid (which means “hope” in Persian) was Iran’s first domestically made satellite. A suborbital test flight (a liquid-propellant-driven rocket), named Kavoshgar-1 (meaning Explorer-1 in Persian), which carried an unspecified cargo, was conducted in February 2008. Article 1 of the STATUTE OF THE IRANIAN SPACE AGENCY states that “Aiming at implementing the approvals of the Space Supreme Council of Iran and the study, research, designing, engineering and conducting the issues of space service and remote sensing technologies, and strengthening the communication networks and space technology inside and out of the country, and collection of the sovereignty activities of the Iranian Remote Sensing Center and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, benefiting the facilities and human resource of the Department of Design, Engineering and Installation of Satellite Communications and Department of Maintenance of Satellite Communications both affiliated with the Telecommunications Company of Iran, the Iranian Space Agency which is briefly referred to as “Agency” in this Statute, is established”. Preparing and formulating the regulations and statutes related to the tasks included in the Article 9 of the Law for Tasks and Authorizations of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology approved in 2003, for proposing to the legal clients, XIV. The Sajil (also transliterated Sejil/Sejjil) is a solid-fueled, two-stage, ground-mobile ballistic missile that Iran says has a range of about 2,000 km, according to official U.S. sources. “Today, the world’s powerful armies do not have a comprehensive defense plan without being in space, and achieving this superior technology that takes us into space and expands the realm of our abilities is a strategic achievement,” said Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard. The following is the full text of the CRS report. Iran currently operates two types of SLVs: the Safir (“Envoy”) and the Simorgh (“Phoenix”). Iran had failed to put a communications satellite, the Zafar-1, into orbit on February 9. The Guard launching its own satellite now calls that into question. Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Some U.S. media reports at the time indicated the Simorgh exploded shortly after launch and there is no evidence it achieved orbit. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Associated Press that American officials continue to monitor Iran’s program. Establishing national archive and centralizing store, classification and updating of space data”. CRS assessed in 2012 that it was “increasingly uncertain whether Iran will be able to achieve an ICBM capability by 2015 for several reasons: Iran does not appear to be receiving the degree of foreign support many believe would be necessary; Iran has found it increasingly difficult to acquire certain critical components and materials because of sanctions; and Iran has not demonstrated the kind of flight test program many view as necessary to produce an ICBM.”, Although not representing the IC, Adm. Gortney (Northern Command) seemingly updated the U.S. government assessment, stating on March 10, 2016: “Iran has successfully orbited satellites using its ICBM-class booster as early as this year. The Iranian space program encompasses all of Iran’s civilian and military space activities. Export controls and sanctions have made it increasingly difficult, but not impossible, for Iran to acquire the best of such items, causing Iran to try to exploit weaknesses in existing export and nonproliferation regimes, or to try to find foreign sellers willing to circumvent those laws.

Demands for New Iran Talks. Simorgh was designed to place a 350-kilogram payload into a 500-kilometre Low Earth Orbit. On February 12, Iran vowed to continue its space program despite international condemnation. Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space.