Iran plans to launch 3 telecom satellites in 5 years: ISA
Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) says the country plans to launch its first three telecom satellites into space within the next 5 years.
The satellites, IranSat 1 to 3, will be Iran’s first telecom satellites with two FSS and BSS transponders, Hamid Fazeli said on Tuesday.
ISA is also planning a joint project with Iran Defense Ministry to develop a satellite, called Qaem, weighing one ton with 12 transponders to provide audiovisual services globally in response to the removal of the Iranian news channels by a number of satellite providers, Fazeli added.
Iran launched its first indigenous satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into the space in February 2010, using the indigenous Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.
On January 28, the Islamic Republic of Iran sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule, code-named Pishgam (Pioneer), as a prelude to sending humans on space missions.
In June 2011, Iran put the 15.3-kilogram Rasad (Observation) orbiter in space. Rasad's mission was to take images of the Earth and transmit them along with telemetry information to the ground stations.
Iran also launched Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry), another indigenous satellite, into the orbit on February 3, 2012.
The country is one of the 24 founding members of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.