Iran to put 3 new satellites into orbit

Iran plans to put three new satellites into orbit by the end of the current Iranian year (ending March 20), says the head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA).

Hamid Fazeli made the remark on Thursday one day after Iran successfully launched its second satellite named Rassad (Observation) into orbit.

“Following successful launch of Rassad (into orbit) yesterday, the satellites of Kavoshgar 5 (Explorer 5) that will carry animals, Fajr and Navid will be launched into space,” Fazeli told IRNA.

The official added that Kavoshgar 5, with a weight of 285-kg, will be launched in Mordad (fifth month of the Iranian calendar, July 22 – August 22).

Rassad, designed and built by ISA, was launched by the Safir-e-Rassad satellite carrier on Wednesday.

Its mission is to take images of the earth’s surface and relay them to the earth-based stations together with telemetric information.

The satellite is equipped with solar panels and uses solar energy to work.

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite Omid (Hope) in 2009 which made it the ninth country to develop satellite launch capability.

Tehran also plans to launch the country’s first manned mission to space by 2019.