Iran to launch two homegrown communication satellites by March 2023

Tehran: Iran will launch two homegrown communication satellites by the end of the Iranian calendar year, i.e., by March 2023. Iran’s Communication and Information Technology Minister, Issa Zarepour has said the country will launch at least two homegrown satellites into space by March 20, 2023. Making the remarks in an interview with the official news agency IRNA, Zarepour on Sunday (December 18) said that in addition to the two communication satellites Nahid 1 and Nahid 2, others are to be launched later, Xinhua news agency reported. The two satellites are both produced by the Iranian Space Research Centre, with Nahid 1 unveiled in late January 2017.

Nahid 2 is an improved version of the series, designed to be put into an orbit 500 km above the Earth. With a two-year lifespan, it has a three-axis control system and a propulsion system for orbital maneuvers. The Minister's announcement came after Iran and Russia on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to expand space industry cooperation.

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Iran also succeeded in launching the Qaem 100 three-stage solid fuel suborbital satellite carrier in November, and the Khayyam satellite into space from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier rocket in August.

The US alleged at the time that the Khayyam would enable “significant spying capabilities” and that a deepening Russia-Iran alliance amounted to a “profound threat” to the world.

Iran’s space agency rejected those allegations, countering that the purpose of Khayyam was to “monitor the country’s borders,” and help with the management of natural resources and agriculture.

(With inputs from IANS)