Speaking to Mehr correspondent, Hossein Samimi, head of the Iranian Space Research Center, said that the previously home-grown tethered communicative balloons are going to be equipped with engines to enhance their capabilities.
Samimi also said that the previously domestically-produced captive balloons are fixed on a vehicle and can fly over a certain area and at a certain altitude.
He added that the tethered balloons are used in certain disaster-hit areas to aid rescue efforts in emergency cases.
The head of the Iranian Space Research Center further reported that work is under way to equip the fixed balloons with engines in order for them to be able to move over the area and change their altitude.
He went on to say that if the free-lying communicative balloon project turns out to be successful, they will start working on building airships. He added that the bigger project to build the airships is called 'Keyhan'.
Samimi also pointed out that studies have already been conducted on 'Keyhan' project to build airships in cooperation with Iranian universities.
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