Iran Unveils Two Homegrown Satellites

By Staff, Agencies

Iran on Tuesday unveiled Nahid-2 telecommunication and Tolou-3 remote sensing satellites. The two satellites were showcased at a ceremony in Tehran on the occasion of Iran’s National Day of Space.

The Nahid-2 telecommunication satellite has been built by the Iranian Space Research Center at the request of the Iranian Space Agency [ISA]. It has a lifespan of at least 2 years, and will be revolving at a height of 500 kilometers above the earth's surface in a circular orbit.

Nahid-2 will undertake multiple telecommunication missions, such as simultaneous telephone communications, and would secure data storage and transmission. The satellite has already passed all its tests successfully and is ready for launch.

The Tolou-3 satellite is an imaging satellite commissioned by the ISA and produced by Iran Electronics Industries.

With a weight of 150 kilograms, Tolou-3 is believed to be the heaviest satellite manufactured in Iran. Tolou-3 is capable of capturing black and white images with a spatial resolution of five meters. It also has a 10-meter resolution in color mode.

The satellite, which strongly relies on equipment and tools produced by Iranian knowledge-based companies, is expected to be placed into an orbit 500 kilometers above the Earth.

In April 2020, Iran announced the successful launch of its first military satellite into orbit. In March 2022, it blasted its second military satellite into space.