Speaking at a televised program on Monday night, Seyed Ahmad Hosseini highlighted the country’s progress in the space industry and said that while only 6 countries had the technology to develop spaceports in the past, Iran is now the seventh one in the club.
Referring to the upcoming launch of the homegrown “Zafar” satellite, he said it has 25-meter precision and the precision of the next version of Zafar would be 16 meters.
In the not-too-distant future, Iran will unveil “Sarir and Soroush” satellite carriers, he said, adding that the country is seeking to build solid-fuel satellite carriers in the near future.
On Wednesday, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi told reporters that the new homegrown satellite Zafar (victory) will be launched before February 11 -the anniversary of victory of the Islamic Revolution.
The minister said two versions of Zafar have been manufactured, so that if the first launch fails, the second satellite will be immediately prepared as a replacement.
“The satellite will be launched before February 11, and information about it will be clearly publicized,” he said.
The new satellite is going to travel to space with the Iranian “Simorgh” satellite carrier, Azari Jahromi added.
Zafar, which weighs 113 kilograms, is going to be sent into an orbit at the altitudes of above 500 km, he noted, adding that it will be utilized for telecommunication, taking images, and picking up space signals.
The Iranian satellite will reportedly have a lifespan of one year and six months, and will capture images and transmit them to stations on earth.