Iran unveils new satellites, carrier

Iran on Wednesday unveiled three new satellites and a satellite carrier, a year after it placed its first domestic research satellite into orbit.

The three satellites — Tolou, Mesbah 2 and Navid — are telecommunication satellites and have been designed and produced domestically.

Mesbah 2 is a low-orbit communications satellite, which will be eased in orbit 400 to 1600 miles above the earth.

It is designed to make the trip around the globe every couple of hours.

According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News (IRIB News), no date has been set for the test-flight of a Mesbah 2 prototype, currently under manufacture.

In the inauguration ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian Aerospace Organization (IAO) also unveiled the country’s first domestic satellite carrier engine, called Simorgh.

Simorgh, which weighs 87 tons, is equipped to carry a 220-pound satellite 310 miles into orbit.

On February 3, 2009, Iran placed a research satellite, Omid, into orbit, which carried experimental satellite control devices, communications equipment and power supply systems to a distance of 250 to 350 kilometers above the earth’s atmosphere.