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.
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.