Iran’s Next Satellite Launch in ‘Near Future’

Iran is working on its next data-gathering satellite launch in the ‘near future’ in a higher orbit than the Noor-1 satellite that was launched on April 23.

The launcher will be upgraded from a liquid-fueled rocket to a solid-fueled rocket which will enable it carry the same satellite payload with a smaller rocket profile, said the Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Division Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh.

Speaking to Iranian journalists inTehran Friday, Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said the Noor-1 satellite had commenced sending signals to  ground station in Iran indicating that all  is well with the spacecraft.

“The satellite’s configurations will be fully set in a few days allowing the satellite to attain its full operational capacity,” he added.

Referring to the launcher rocket, dubbed Qased (Messenger) – he said it used a missile engine from Iran’s existing missile arsenal operating on liquid fuel.

The Qased rocket’s frame had also been made of composite material, a “complex” and “state-of-the-art” feature to decrease its weight.

The Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Division has said that the country is receiving signals from its recently launched Noor satellite and that it plans to launch a future satellite in higher orbit.

The general said that the Noor satellite’s on-board electronics and communication systems had been fully designed and manufactured inside the country.

Iran is under  UN sanctions which prevents it from accessing dual-use technology such as semi-conductors that can be used in missile and space technology.