Iran Launches Satellite Carrier, Rouhani Hails Great Step
Local Editor
Iran launched its domestically-manufactured Simorgh carrier successfully Thursday, whose mission is to put Iranian satellites into the orbit.
According to Tasnim news agency, the launch was carried out by Imam Khomeini Space Center [IKSC].
The report added that Simorgh satellite carrier is able to put satellites weighing as much as 250 kilograms at an orbit about 500 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
The report said Imam Khomeini Space Center is responsible for all operations related to satellite carriers, including preparation, launch, control and steering.
The launch signals official inauguration of Imam Khomeini Space Center.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the successful test-launch of his country's new satellite carrier, saying such scientific achievements boost the Islamic Republic's power and grandeur.
"Today, space science and technology are of great importance to us, and the more we push forward in these and other scientific fields, the more powerful and dignified we will be," Rouhani wrote in a message on his Instagram account on Thursday night.
Earlier in the day, the president went to Iran's central province of Semnan to attend the opening ceremony of the Imam Khomeini Space Center, which began its operations by firing off the indigenous Simorgh carrier.
Designed and developed with the latest standards in mind, Iran's new space rocket can carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilograms about 500 kilometers 310 miles away, well within the Low Earth Orbit [LEO].
The rocket, Iran's largest to date, will be used to launch the domestically-built Earth observation satellite Tolou in the near future.
Rouhani said the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], which led to the removal of Western sanctions, had ushered in a new opportunity for progress.
"In the post-JCPOA era, we have the opportunity to take note from others' experience while relying on the hard work of our own experts and scientists to earn achievements that ultimately boost national development," the president wrote.
Meanwhile, Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan, who accompanied Rouhani at the IKSC, told reporters that the spaceport acted as a "command and control site" that could track and control satellites at all times.
He noted that the center was already capable of launching satellites to higher orbits of up to 1,000 kilometers.
Source: News agencies, Edited by website team
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