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Iran successfully launches satellite-carrying rocket

The carrier is capable of putting a payload of 80 kg into orbit

Published: Sat 5 Nov 2022, 6:57 PM

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Iran on Saturday launched a new satellite-carrying rocket, state TV reported, seeking to demonstrate the force's space prowess even as anti-government protests rage across the country.

Iranian state TV said the country successfully launched the solid-fuelled rocket — what it called a Ghaem-100 satellite carrier — and aired dramatic footage of the rocket blasting off from a desert launch pad into a cloudy sky. The report did not reveal the location, which resembled Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province.

The state-run IRNA news agency reported that the carrier would be able to put a satellite weighing 80 kg into orbit some 500 kilometers from Earth.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the aerospace division, said he hoped the rocket would soon be used to put a new satellite, named Nahid, into orbit.

Iran says its satellite programme is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications. The United States and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the programme because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles. Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the US.



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