Iran says Zafar satellites ready for launch
1 February 2020
Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said that two newly built satellites have passed prelaunch tests and will be transported to the nation’s space center for launch.
According to Iran Daily,"Following attempts by young Iranian scientists, the Zafar 1 and 2 satellites, which have successfully passed their tests, will be deployed to the space center today so that the process for putting them in orbit can commence soon,” he said. "The satellite and the satellite carrier are both an important research step.”
Zafar, designed by Iran University of Science and Technology, is a 113-kilogram remote-sensing satellite equipped with high-resolution cameras capable of monitoring and transmitting data on natural resources as well as agricultural and environmental developments.
It is likely to be launched by Simorgh, also called Safir-2, an expendable small-capacity orbital carrier rocket.
The Zafar 1 satellite, which will be placed 500 kilometers above the earth’s surface, can orbit the planet 16 times a day, each taking 90 minutes.
The difference between Zafar 1 and Zafar 2 is that the latter is fitted with color cameras.
Iran launched its first locally-built satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space in February 2010, using Kavoshgar-3 carrier.
In February 2015, Iran placed its domestically-made Fajr satellite into orbit, which is capable of taking and transmitting high-quality photos to stations on Earth.
In January 2019, the Payam satellite was launched into space with an aim to collect environmental information; however, technical problems that occurred during the final stage of the launch prevented the spacecraft from reaching orbit.