Iran plans to launch new satellites
By Nigar Abbasova
The Islamic Republic of Iran is eager to develop its ICT industry and to launch three new satellites into space in the nearest future.
Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said that the country plans to launch all satellites by 2018, with one of the new domestically-manufactured satellites being send into space by the end of the current year (Iranian calendar year ends on March 20, 2017).
“One of the satellites - Sharif Sat or Doosti will be put into orbit by the end of the year, while two more satellites will be launched by the end of the next Iranian calendar year,” he said, adding that the satellites have been manufactured by young Iranian experts in research centers of local universities.
Doosti (‘Friendship’) satellite is a remote sensing satellite with weight of 50 kg, which was developed by the Remote Sensing Laboratory of the Iranian Space Agency.
Iran has taken long strides in recent years to develop its space industry and to build different types of satellites and explorers. A new era for ICT development in Iran opened following the lifting of international sanctions against the country that opened opportunities for buying commercial satellites and acquiring related technologies.
Back in 2009, Iran launched its first locally-built Omid satellite. In February 2015, the country placed into orbit its domestically-made Fajr satellite.
Iran also considers construction of the national telecommunications satellite. The country is currently in talks with a number of foreign countries on the project.
Moreover, the country is also about to sign a contract with a Russian company on the manufacture of a remote-sensing satellite, while the contract is in its final stage.
Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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