Iran to Launch New Satellite in Coming Days
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Final tests and technical inspections are being carried out on Iran’s new satellite, the Tadbir (Prudence), before it can be put on the launch pad for the final blast-off in the coming days, said head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) on Thursday.
ISA President Hamid Fazeli said that many tests are conducted on satellites before they receive the technical approval and the green light for launch, adding that the Tadbir has gone through that stage and will be ready for the countdown in the coming days.
Fazeli said that highly advanced navigation and photography facilities have been mounted on this satellite, which are signs of its high technical specifications.
Noting that the Tadbir is a research satellite, the ISA official said, “Launching research satellites and using the information that they dispatch play a great role in improving the living conditions of people."
The newest Iranian satellite will be launched on a carrier called the Safir (Ambassador) B1.
Tadbir is Iran’s fourth and most advanced satellite to be launched into the earth orbit, equipped with devices that will check the effects of space on living organisms.
The satellite was designed and produced by experts at the Space Research Laboratory of Tehran Science and Technology University.
Fazeli had earlier on October 3 said that the country plans to launch two new satellites into orbit.
Speaking on the sidelines of the opening ceremony for the World Space Week in Tehran, Fazeli told reporters that two new satellites, dubbed Tadbir (Prudence) and Zafar (Triumph), are to be sent into space in the future.
Iran launched its domestically-built Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry) satellite into orbit in February 2012.
Fezali further explained that Tadbir enjoys more advanced systems compared to Navid satellite, making it possible to capture images with higher precision.
The Iranian official also noted that Zafar satellite will be sent into space in the next Iranian year (starts on 21 March 2014), on a satellite carrier, known as Simorgh (the Roc).
Also in September, Chancellor of Sharif University of Technology Reza Rousta Azad told Tasnim that Iran was ready to send a home-made satellite, called Sharifsat, into orbit by an indigenous satellite carrier.
“The satellite will be sent into space on board ‘Safir B-1’ satellite carrier to provide aerial photography and colorful imagery of the Earth,” he said at the time.
He also said Sharifsat, which weighs less than 50 kilograms, has been designed and constructed by more than 100 students, alumni and professors of Sharif University of Technology.
Iran sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule code-named Pishgam (Pioneer) in January 2013.
The country successfully launched its first indigenous data-processing satellite, Omid (Hope), into orbit in 2009.
As part of a plan to develop its space program, Iran also successfully launched its second satellite, dubbed Rassad (Observation), into the earth's orbit in June 2011. Rassad's mission was to take images of the earth and transmit them along with telemetry information to ground stations.