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Template:Flagicon/core Iranian Space Agency

Official logo of ISA
Owner	Iran
Established	2003[1]
Headquarters	Tehran, Mahdasht, Shahrood and Qom
Administrator	Mohammad Ali Forghani
Budget	$400 million (2008)[2]
Website	[1]http://www.isa.ir

The Iranian Space Agency (ISA, Persian: سازمان فضایی ایران Sāzmān-e Fazāii-ye Irān) is Iran's governmental Space agency. Iran is an active participant in the Asian space race and became an orbital-launch-capable nation in 2009.

The president of Iranian Space Agency is one of the deputies of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. ISA was established to conduct research in the field of space and technology. These fields include Remote sensing and development of national and international space technology and communication networks. The Iranian Space Agency has dual program and successfully developed military-Spy satellites as well as Communication satellites for peaceful use of Space technology. The head of the Iranian Space Council (ISC) is the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran declared in 2005 that in order to reach her ambitious goal of ranking among the top 10 space faring nations, the government would allocate 500 million USD over the next five years to the space program.^[3] On February 3, 2010, ISA announced a Kavoshgar-3 rocket was launched with living organisms onboard and returned to earth unharmed.^[4]

Contents 1 Satellite launch vehicle 1.1 Sub-orbital launches 1.1.1 Animals in space 1.2 Orbital launches 2 Satellites 3 Space centers 4 Future projects 4.1 Satellites 4.2 Satellite launch vehicle 4.3 Manned space program 5 Controversy 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Satellite launch vehicle

After 2000, Iran had acquired the necessary skills to begin initial production of the Shahab-3 rocket. This was followed by several modifications and improvements, leading to the test firing of an improved version (Shahab SLV) in late 2004, which was used to launch a completely indigenous Omid satellite. This was followed by several more modifications and improvements, leading to the test firing of the next generation, a (Shahab SLV) in late 2004, which was used to launch an additional Omid satellite.

Iran has developed an expendable satellite launch vehicle named Safir SLV. Measuring 22 m in height with a core diameter of 1.25 m, with two TM-185/AK-27I liquid propellant stages, a single thrust chambered first stage and a two-thrust chambered, step-throttled second stage, the SLV has a lift off mass exceeding 26 tons. The first stage consists of a lengthened up-rated Shahab-3C. According to the technical documentation presented in the annual meeting of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs it is two-stage rocket with all liquid propellant engines. The first stage is capable of carrying the payload to the max altitude of 6.8 kilometer.^[7] It is designed to place a lightweight (50–100 kg) payload into a 500 km LEO. The lighter sub-orbital all-liquid two-stage version is known as Kavoshgar. It is the civilian version derived from one of at least four known military ASAT systems still in development, thus the Safir SLV is 40% taller. In 2009, Iran became the 9th country to put a domestically built satellite into orbit.^[6]

In 2010 a more powerful rocket named Simorgh ('phoenix') was built. Its mission is to carry the heavier Mesbah-2 ('lantern-2'), Toloo ('sunrise') and Navid-Elmo-Sanat ('promising sign') satellites into orbit.^[8][9]

Sub-orbital launches

On February 25, 2007, the Iranian state-run television announced that a rocket, created by the ministries of science and defense and which carried an unspecified cargo, was successfully launched.^[10] This could have been the maiden test flight of the three stages Safir SLV which ended in a failure. The US military expressed doubt whether this launch ever took place, because it was not detected by NORAD.^[11]

On February 4, 2008, Iran successfully launched the two-stage all-liquid propellant sub-orbital rocket Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1), made of a Safir-class SLV without orbital injection solid third stage, for a maiden sub-orbital test flight from Shahroud, its newly inaugurated domestic space launch complex.^[12][13] The first stage of the rocket detached after 90 seconds and returned to earth with the help of a parachute while the second stage reached a 200 km altitude before reentering the Earth's atmosphere after 300 seconds. The third section of the rocket, containing an atmospheric probe, climbed to 250 km while successfully transmitting scientific data on the atmosphere and the electromagnetic waves on its path back to Earth. It deployed a parachute after six minutes at a lower altitude.

The second Kavoshgar, which carried a space-lab and a restoration system, was launched in November 2008. Kavoshgar-2 is a sounding rocket with the capability of sending back the second stage to the earth using a parachute.^[14]

Animals in space

On February 3, 2010, ISA launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket with one rodent, two turtles, and several worms into sub-orbital space and returned them to Earth alive.^[15] The rocket was enabled to transfer electronic data and live footage back to Earth. The rat was named Helmz 1. The Iranian Aerospace Organization (IAO) showed live video transmission of mini-environmental lab to enable further studies on the biological capsule.^[16]

President Ahmadinejad said the new satellites demonstrate Iran's technological expertise^[4] and that it proved that Iran could "defeat the West's domination in the scientific arena". He also added, "This is the first presence of Animals in space launched by Iran. It's the start of bigger achievements".^[17]

Orbital launches

On August 17, 2008, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Shiites' 12th Imam Mahdi, Iran proceeded with the second test launch of a three-stage Safir SLV from a site south of Semnan in the northern part of the Dasht-e-Kavir desert. Reza Taghizadeh, head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization, told state television "The Safir (Ambassador) satellite carrier was launched today and, for the first time, we successfully launched a dummy satellite into orbit".^[18]

During a TV interview Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disclosed that the first Iranian attempt to put a satellite in space failed due to a technical failure in the last stage of the SLV. He further stated that the failure caused "certain people" to come forward and object to the Iranian space program with the view that it should be abandoned. But he claims to have pushed for a second launch, which was successful.^[19]

On February 2, 2009, Iranian state television reported that Iran's first domestically made satellite Omid (from the Persian امید, meaning "Hope") had been successfully launched into LEO by a version of Iran's Safir rocket, the Safir-2.^[20] The operation was made to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution.

Satellites

Sinah-1, the first Iranian satellite, was designed in Iran and was built in Russia and launched by Roscosmos on October 28, 2005, on a Kosmos-3 booster rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, making Iran the 43rd country to possess its own satellite.

A joint research satellite Environment 1 of Iran, China and Thailand was launched on a Chinese Long March 2C carrier rocket on September 6, 2008, aimed at boosting cooperation on Natural disasters such as Flooding, Drought, Typhoon, Landslide and Earthquake. The twin Earth observation satellites of eight planned were launched from Taiyuan SLC. The satellites will work as a constellation with six other satellites yet to be launched. Its observational footprint is 720 km. With a lifespan of more than three years, they have state-of-the-art imaging systems and infrared cameras and provide a global scan every two days.^[21]

Omid, Iran's second satellite that was placed in orbit, is described as a "data-processing" satellite for "research and telecommunications".^[20][22]

The next Iranian satellite, Mesbah (meaning 'Lantern') has been built by Iran in collaboration with Italy's Carlo Gavazzi Space S.p.A. Mesbah is a low-orbit Telecommunication satellite for storing and sending messages.^[23]

Mesbah-2, Toloo (Sunrise), the new generation of Reconnaissance satellites built by Iran Electronics Industries, and Navid-Elmo-Sannat (also known as 'Ya Mahdi') which is an "experimental satellite" for testing camera and telecommunications equipment were revealed to the public on February 3, 2010.^{[8][8][23][24]}

Space centers

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The main launch site of the Iranian Space Agency is Emamshahr, located at 36°25′0″N 55°01′0″E / 36.416667°N 55.016667°E / 36.416667; 55.016667 (Iranian Space Agency Emamshahr) , where suborbital Shahab 3s LV have been launched. Qom, located at 34°39′0″N 50°54′0″E / 34.65°N 50.9°E / 34.65; 50.9 (Iranian Space Agency Qom) , is the other launch site.

On occasion of the inaugural launch of Iran's first Safir-class sub-orbital rocket called Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1), Iran unveiled on February 4, 2008, her first Satellite Launch Center 35°14′200″N 54°55′1600″E / 35.234°N 53.921°E / 35.234; 53.921 (Iranian Space Agency Satellite Launch Center Semnan) in Semnan. The facility includes an underground command and control center, a tracking station and a launchpad among other structures.

Future projects

Satellites

In January 2005, the Zohreh Geosynchronous Communication satellite project was approved with a contract signed with Russia. Mesbah and Sinah-2 were due to be launched in 2009, also on a Russian rocket.^[25] As of January 2010 all three projects were on hold for political reasons because of Iran's nuclear program. Yet, in May 2010, it was announced that Iran and Russia had agreed to launch a remote sensing satellite and a telecommunications satellite, without further precisions.^[26] 'Rasad 1' satellite (meaning observation in Persian) will carry photographic and remote measuring equipment to space onboard a domestically built rocket by 2011.^[27]

According to Iranian media, Iranian experts are also engaged in the development of three more satellite projects including ZS4, SM2S and Sepehr (no update has been given about their fate in recent years).^[28][29] Iran plans to have satellites in Geostationary orbit by 2016.^[30]

Satellite launch vehicle

According to the quote made by President Ahmadinejad in a gathering of Iranian expatriates, Iran is planning to manufacture new rockets with a range of 700 to 1,500 kilometers, capable of sending heavier satellites into space.^[31][32] It has been reported that Iran plans to send a number of satellites into space by March 2011, using the newly designed Iranian cluster engine Simorgh rocket. Simorgh (Phoenix) is reported to have the capability to launch a one tonne satellite into low earth orbit.^[33][34]

Manned space program

Iran expressed for the first time its intention to send a human to space during the summit of Soviet and Iranian Presidents at June 21, 1990. Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev reached an agreement in principle with then-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to make joint Soviet-Iranian manned flights to Mir space station but this agreement was never realized after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Almost two decades later the Iranian News Agency claimed on November 21, 2005, that the Iranians have a manned space program along with plans for the development of a spacecraft and a space laboratory. ^[35] Iran Aerospace Industries Organization (IAIO) head Reza Taghipour on August 20, 2008, revealed Iran intends to launch a manned mission into space within a decade. This goal was described as the country's top priority for the next 10 years, in order to make Iran the leading space power of the region by 2021.^{[5][5][36][37]}

After the successful launch of the first satellite, Reza Taghizadeh stated in February 2009 that Iran will send its first astronaut on board its own spacecraft, launched on its own rocket, by 2021. Scientific research on this program has already begun. Iran considers manned space program vital in its technological race and intends to achieve independent manned space ability faster than the 15-year duration that China took with their own program.

In August 2010, President Ahmadinejad announced that Iran's first astronaut will be sent into space onboard an Iranian shuttle by 2017.^[38][39] Also, according to unofficial Chinese internet sources, an Iranian participation in the future Chinese space station program has been discussed. This involvement might range from simply sending astronauts to the 60 tons class space station to contributing with development of a space laboratory module. International manned space cooperation has officially been disclosed for the first time after the launch of the Chinese Shenzhou 7 spacecraft.^[40]

Controversy

Iranian space program has been condemned by United States and Europe because of their concern over its military potential. Some analysts have compared the relatively fast Iranian advancement in space technology to Russia's Sputnik program with the prediction that this advancement will propel Iran's military capability in other areas as well. The recent launches of the Iranian space program has put its rocket technology ahead of North Korea's, specially in multi-stage technologies necessary for orbital launch. The military concerns over Iran's space program has been exacerbated over Safir rocket's advanced 2nd stage which Iran has kept secret by not releasing any technical information related to the second stage of the rocket, keeping outside observers guessing over the technicalities. Vitali Lapota, the head of Russia's space craft and missile manufacturer, RKK Energiya, upon Omid's launch has said: "I take my hat off to the Iranian scientists. ... They have shown their missiles can reach any point on the globe".^{[41][42][43][44][45][46][47]} United States has also arrested and seeks criminal convictions for people who help Iran in its satellite manufacturing program.^[48][49]

See also

• List of first orbital launches by country
• Air Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
• Anousheh Ansari - First Iranian-American cosmonaut
• Economy of Iran
• Iran Aviation Industries Organization
• List of Iranian research centers
• International rankings of Iran

References

External links

• Iranian Space Agency
• Space Science
• Iranian Space Agencies (listing)
• Iran space program
• Shahab SLV
• Aerospace Industries Organization
• Iran in Space Globalsecurity.org
• Youtube Video on Iran Space Program
• Iran's space technology program - Part I Part II Part III (PressTV documentary)

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