‘Iran to launch Sharif Satellite into space in 3 months’

Iranian experts have finished the construction of the indigenous Sharif Satellite, scheduled to be launched into space in three months, says the head of the university where the satellite has been made.

“[The construction of] Sharif Satellite has been completed and it is currently in line to be launched,” said Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology Reza Roosta-Azad in a Saturday interview.

Experts are using the time before the launch to upgrade the satellite, he added.

The Iranian academic noted that Sharif Satellite will be launched on board the indigenous Safir B-1 carrier.

More than 100 Iranian students, scholars and academics have been involved in designing and constructing the indigenous satellite, which weighs less than 50 kilograms, he added.

On January 28, the Islamic Republic of Iran sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule, code-named Pishgam (Pioneer), as a prelude to sending humans on space missions.

Iran launched its first indigenous satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into the space in February 2010, using the indigenous Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

In June 2011, Iran put the 15.3-kilogram Rasad (Observation) orbiter in space. Rasad’s mission was to take images of the Earth and transmit them along with telemetry information to ground stations.

Iran also launched Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry), another indigenous satellite, into the orbit on February 3, 2012.

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