‘Iran plans to send Fajr satellite into space soon’

DHAKA: The Islamic Republic plans to send the Fajr (Dawn) satellite into space within a month, Director of Iran Space Agency Hamid Fazeli announced.

The Fajr satellite is a reconnaissance satellite powered by solar energy.

Speaking at a conference in K.N. Toosi University of Technology in Tehran, Fazeli said that Iran plans to send the satellite into space aboard the upgraded Safir one satellite carrier rocket.

Fazeli said that the launch of the satellite into the orbit will be a technological step forward in Iran’s space industry.

Iran has already sent three satellites into space.

On February 3, the country successfully launched its third domestically manufactured satellite, named the Navid (Promise), into orbit.

The Safir one satellite carrier rocket was used to launch the Navid research satellite.

Fazeli also said that the Islamic Republic will also put the satellites Nahid and Sharif University of Technology into orbit by the end of the Iranian calendar year.

He went on to say that Iranian space scientists are doing research to develop the technology to unfold solar panels through sending the Nahid satellite into space.

Fazeli said that if the manufacture of Simorgh satellite carrier rocket is completed, the satellite Tolou (Sunrise) and Zafar (Victory) will be launched into space by March 20.

The Zafar satellite will be used for remote sensing missions.

The images taken by the satellite can be utilised in meteorology and for the demarcation of water borders and charting the topography of the tributaries of rivers.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Fazeli said that Iran Space Agency is working on a project to send living creatures to space within a few months.

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.

BDST: 1618 HRS, MAY 3, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor