Iran says it conducted a successful space launch
Rocket carried an ‘orbital propulsion system’ and research payloads to a 400km orbit above the Earth
Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its programme the West alleges improves Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.
Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a series of failed launches, at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That’s the site of Iran’s civilian space programme.
The Simorgh carried what Iran described as an “orbital propulsion system”, as well as two research systems to a 400km (250-mile) orbit above the Earth. The system could allow Iran to change the orbit of a spacecraft, something Tehran long has wanted to have geo-synchronised orbits for its satellites.
Iran also put the payload of the Simorgh at 300kg (660 pounds), heavier than its previous successful launches.
There was no immediate independent confirmation the launch was successful. The US military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as an uneasy ceasefire holds in Lebanon.
The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired in October 2023.
