TEHRAN: Iran has sent a research satellite into orbit with a rocket built by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, officials news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
The report stated the Chamran-1 satellite has a weight of 60 kg and successfully reached in 550-kilometer orbit in space. It added testing space hardware and software is the main mission of the Iranian satellite.
IRNA reported that land stations received signals from the satellite. It added that the satellite-carrier rocket Qaem-100, utilizing solid fuel, was designed and developed by the Guard aerospace division. Iran adds it has around 13 more satellite launches in a row.
Though Tehran has long planned to send satellites into orbit, this is the first launch under President Masoud Pezezhkian following his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi passed away in a May helicopter crash.
READ ALSO : China Claims German Naval Vessels in Taiwan Strait ‘Increase Security Risks’
In January Iran stated that it successfully launched around three satellites into space with a rocket. Earlier, the US said that Iran’s satellite launches defy a UNSC resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear arms. UN sanctions related to Tehran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.
