Iran Starts Operational Phase of ‘Martyr Soleimani’ Satellite System Project
“The Iranian Space Agency has been tasked with placing a telecommunication satellite system in Earth's orbit based on the 10-year space plan and in order to provide services to people, government institutions, and organizations as well as the private sector companies,” Head of the Iranian Space Agency Hassan Salarieh said.
“Implementation of the project, which is named ‘Martyr Soleimani Project’ and is considered to be the first satellite system project of our country, is of great importance owing to the achievements in the production of satellite series and their network formation,” he added.
Salarieh said that the Iranian Space Agency had prepared the operational plan of the project and codified the executive plan of a narrowband telecommunication system with limited service long ago and even before the finalization of the country's 10-year space plan.
He explained that the project was launched in less than one month after the approval of the 10-year space plan.
Iran launched its first satellite, called Omid (literally meaning hope), in 2009. Rasad (literally meaning observation) satellite was also sent into orbit in 2011.
In 2012, Iran successfully put its third domestically manufactured satellite, named Navid (literally meaning promise), into orbit.
The first and most advanced homegrown remote-sensing satellite is Pars-1, which has been designed and constructed by the researchers of the Iranian Space Research Center.
Pars-1 is supposed to take pictures of all parts of the country using a high-resolution 15-meter-camera and send its photos from a 500-kilometer distance to the earth stations using a high-powered telecommunication transceiver.
According to previous reports, the Iranian Space Agency has plans to launch a number of satellites, including Pars-1, Pars-2, Zafar-2, and Nahid-2.
In February, the Iranian Space Agency announced that the Kosar satellite, designed and launched by 8 technological companies, was scheduled to be in a 500-kilometer orbit by the current [Iranian calendar] year (which began on March 21).
Iran is among the 10 countries with the know-how of space technology and is the 11th country in the world in terms of space science and the leading country in the region.
Iran’s global ranking in space technology has improved from 95 in 1996 to 11 in 2017.
4155/Azra Varasteh
