Iran plans further satellite launches in February: Space chief
Iran plans to launch several more satellites into space in the coming calendar month, which ends in late February, according to the country’s space chief, who says the launches may be carried out from new space centers currently being completed in northern and southern Iran.
Head of the Iranian Space Agency, Hassan Salarieh, said on Sunday that the exact timing of the launches planned for next month will be announced soon, adding that domestically built launch vehicles will be used for the missions.
Salarieh made the remarks just after Iran launched three key satellites, including its heaviest satellites to date, from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome.
The launches have been hailed as a sign of progress in Iran’s space industry despite heavy sanctions targeting the sector’s technological development.
Salarieh said Iran is focused on completing construction of a major space center in the southeastern port city of Chabahar, located on the Indian Ocean coast.
“We are currently planning to conduct the first satellite launch from this base. Perhaps the most important mission we will undertake in the near future in the launcher domain is precisely this,” he said.
The official also said that Iran would soon open a new space center near the city of Salmas in the northwest of the country, close to the Turkish border.
He said Iran’s policy is to carry out five to six launches per year using its home-made rockets, along with several launches from foreign space centers, adding, however, that the total number is expected to increase in the next calendar year, which begins in late March.
“The process must continue so that we can soon reach a stage where the space industry becomes economically viable,” the Iranian space chief said.
Commenting on Iran’s plans to launch a one-ton biological capsule into space, Salarieh said the design phase of the capsule has been completed and many of its systems are undergoing testing, adding that it is expected to be ready for launch by September next year.
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