Iran Plans to Start Work on Two New Engines for Satellite Carrier Rockets

The Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology approved two major national projects in the fields of research and technology, which include designing and developing two new engines for the country’s satellite carrier rockets.

“Two macro-scale national projects have been added to the 38 major national projects already underway in the country and the executive operations for these two plans are being carried out now,” Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology for Research Affairs Mohammad Mahdinejad Nouri told reporters on Monday.

He said the projects include manufacturing engines for satellite carrier rockets and devising a paradigm for the governing system.

As regards the new rocket engines, Mahdinejad Nouri said Iranian universities, including Sharif, Amirkabir, Tabriz and Mashhad’s Ferdowsi University will participate in the 5-year project.

He added that the paradigm for the governing system will be devised based on the Islamic Revolution theories, the Constitution and the guidelines presented by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Iran has taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February 2011, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in 2010 that Iran plans to send astronauts into space in 2024. But, later he said that the issue had gone under a second study at a cabinet meeting and that the cabinet had decided to implement the plan in 2019, five years earlier than the date envisaged in the original plan.

Omid (hope) was Iran’s first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earth’s atmosphere on April 25, 2009.

After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers.