Iran ready to send living creature into space: Official

Head of Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli says the country is set to lift off its first bio-capsule with a living creature into space soon.

Fazeli told reporters on Wednesday that the final tests in the national project have been conducted and it will be launched after the end of the month of Ramadan which ends later in August.

Earlier in May, Fazeli said Iran would soon send a living organism into space onboard the country’s domestically-made Kavoshgar 5 (Explorer 5) satellite carrier.

According to Fazeli, launching the new bio-capsule will be Iran’s first step towards dispatching human beings into space.

The top Iranian official also said the indigenous Fajr (Dawn) satellite will be launched within the next two months.

The national Fajr satellite weighs 50 kg and will be placed in elliptical orbit of 250-400 km in radius and enjoys the specifications of a professional radar.

Fazeli also pointed to the design and construction of another satellite, named Nahid, which will have solar panels for greater maneuverability in space, and said its launch is expected to take place by March 2013.

In March, 2011, Iran successfully launched the Kavoshgar 4 (Explorer 4) rocket, capable of sending satellites and carrying living creatures into space.

Iran launched its first indigenous data-processing satellite, Omid (Hope), into orbit in 2009.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.