“The Zafar 1 and 2 satellites, which have been designed by Iranian scientists, have successfully passed their tests and their launch process will commence soon,” Azari Jahromi said in a tweet on Sunday.
He described the developments of these satellites and their launchers as a great step in the country’s space program, saying, “Two versions of Zafar have been built by young Iranian scientists, both of which are technologically superior to those we had built before.”
Zafar, designed by Iran University of Science and Technology, is a 90-kilogram remote-sensing satellite equipped with color cameras and can be used for surveying oil reserves, mines, jungles and natural disasters. If the launch is successful, it will orbit the earth at an altitude of 530 kilometers.
It is likely to be launched by Iran's Simorgh Satellite Launch Vehicle, also called Safir-2, an Iranian expendable small-capacity orbital carrier rocket, which was originally scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2010. The project was unveiled by then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in February 2010.
MNA/4829119
Your Comment