Iranian Space Agency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Owner |  Iran |
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| Established | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Emamshahr and Qom |
| Administrator | Ahmad Talebzadeh |
| Website | www.isa.ir/en/ |
The Iranian Space Agency (ISA) is Iran's governmental space agency.
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. Iranian Space Agency performs the approvals of the Iran Space Council (ISC), which is established in order to peacefully use space technology and science and the above atmosphere space to develop the culture, technology science and finance of the country. The head of ISC is the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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[edit] Launch vehicle
Iran developed a satellite launch vehicle of the Shahab family quite similar with the DPRK's Taepodong 2 named IRIS, under the designation of Shahab SLV.
After the year 2000, Iran had acquired the necessary skills to begin initial production of the Shahab-3 missile. This was followed by indigenous Iranian modifications and improvements, leading to test firing of an improved version (Shahab SLV) in late 2004, that would be used to launch a completely indigenous Safir Iran satellite. This would be followed by the Mesbah, developed in collaboration with Italy by May 2005. The Mesbah-2 satellite would follow. In January 2005, the Zohreh geosynchronous satellite project was approved with a contract signed with Russia.
[edit] Sub-orbital rocket launchers
On February 25, 2007, the Iranian state-run television announced that a rocket, carrying unspecified cargo created by the ministries of science and defence, was successfully launched.[1] Later reports stated that the rocket was not intended for the orbital flight, being a sounding rocket. After reaching the altitude of about 150 kilometers, it was designed to descend back to Earth using a parachute. The US Military has doubts about this launch since it was claimed not to have been detected by NORAD. There are, however, concerns of military involvement, particularly with defence ministry use of rockets developed by the Space Agency.[2]
On February 4, 2008, Iran successfully launched the sub-orbital rocket Kavoshgar-1 (Explorer-1) from its newly inaugurated domestic space launch complex. This test is considered to be a major step towards Iran's goal to launch her first low-orbit research satellite. [3][4]
[edit] Space centers
The main launch site of the Iranian Space Agency is Emamshahr, located at , where suborbital Shahab 3s LV have been launched. Qom, located at , is the other launch site.
[edit] Future projects
The Omid satellite is scheduled for a March 2008 launch.
Although Sinah-1, the first Iranian satellite has been built and launched by the Russians on October 28, 2005 on a Kosmos-3 booster rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, making Iran the 43rd country to possess its own satellite. Iran still hopes to become a satellite-launching nation.
The second Iranian satellite, Sinah-2 should be launched in 2008 also on a Russian rocket [5].
The next Iranian satellite, Mesbah should be built by Iran with Italian assistance and launched on a domestically made rocket.
The Shahab-4 rocket still in development with an estimated range of 2,000 miles (3,200 km) is said to be able to launch satellites in space[citation needed].
The Iranian Space Agency director has declared in 2005 that in order to reach her ambitious goal of ranking among the top 8 spacefaring nations, the government would allocate 500 million USD over the next 5 years to the space program [6].
According to Mehran Mirshams, deputy head of Iran Aerospace Association, Iranian experts are currently engaged in the development of five satellite projects including Zohreh, Mesbah, ZS4, SM2S and Sepehr [7].
[edit] See also
- IRIS (missile)
- Zohreh Satellite
- Sinah-1, Iranian satellite
- Mesbah
- Omid (satellite)
- List of Iranian Research Centers
- Iran Aviation Industries Organization
[edit] References
- ^ Iran announces rocket launch, believed part of commercial satellite project. International Herald Tribune (February 25, 2007). Retrieved on February 25, 2007.
- ^ US doubts Iranian space launch claim. AFP (February 25, 2007). Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
- ^ Iranians inaugurate space project (February 4,2008).
- ^ Iran's Kavoshgar1 lifts off for space (February 4,2008).
- ^ Iran plans second satellite launch. Aljazeera (April 10, 2006). Retrieved on September 14, 2006.
- ^ (Chinese) 伊朗加快引进卫星技术 航天技术进全球前8-中华网-中华军事
- ^ Iran Will Launch Satellite Next Week. Iran-daily (October 22, 2005). Retrieved on September 14, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Iranian Space Agency
- Space Science
- Iran space program
- Shahab SLV
- Aerospace Industries Organization
- Youtube Video on Iran Space Program
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