Iran launches home-built satellite rocket
4 hours ago
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said it had launched a rocket carrying a test-satellite into space on Sunday, in a move that could further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive.
"The Safir (Ambassador) rocket was successfully launched. All its systems...are Iranian made," Reza Taghipour, head of Iran's space agency, told state television, adding that a "test satellite was put into orbit." "We have paved the way for placing a satellite in space in future," state television said, showing images of the dawn rocket launch.
Western governments, which suspect Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon, have voiced concern that the Islamic republic's space programme could be put to military use.
A top Iranian official told AFP that earlier reports by state media that the country's first domestically-built communications satellite, called Omid or Hope, had been launched were not correct. A defence ministry statement carried by the official news agency IRNA said that the rocket, "built by Iranian experts" was launched in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "The second launch of the Safir rocket carrying the first satellite Omid was conducted successfully," it said. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "The Iranian media is mistaken. It was the launch of a rocket capable of carrying a satellite. The Omid satellite was not launched itself."
Sunday's development comes amid a standoff between Iran and the international community over Tehran's long-standing refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment work, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.
"The achievement has drawn much attention from around the world, especially from among Muslim nations, as Iran is under heavy sanctions by the West and the UN Security Council, making it develop the technology and build every part and equipment needed in the field of aerospace," the Fars news agency said.
In February, Iran said it had sent a probe into space on the back of a rocket on a mission to prepare for a satellite launch, a move Ahmadinejad lauded as a national success. It was however condemned by the United States, Iran's arch-foe which is leading the campaign against its nuclear drive, amid fears that it could be put to military use, and Russia had also voiced concern. At the time, Mohsen Mir Shams, the deputy head of Iran's space organisation, said the satellite would be put into orbit at a altitude of 650 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth, passing over Iran six times every 24 hours.
Iran has pursued a space programme for several years, and in October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.
"This satellite, the rocket and the launch station are entirely Iranian-built, achieved by particularly talented scientists and technicians," Ahmadinejad told reporters during a trip to Turkey last week, IRNA reported.
Ahmadinejad has made Iran's scientific development one of the main themes of his presidency, asserting that the country has reached a peak of progress despite sanctions and no longer needs to depend on foreign states for help.
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