Iran Says 'Space Rocket' Was for Study

SSETI Express, a satellite designed and built by European university students, launched on 27 October 2005 at 2:52 EDT from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Russian Cosmos 3M launcher. CREDIT: ESA.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- An Iranian rocket launched over the weekend that soared to the edge of space was intended for research, an Iranian space official said, in comments that appeared intended to show that the program is aimed at launching satellites, not missiles.

Iran did not say what research the rocket was carrying out, but the announcement of Sunday's launch underlined the country's ambitions at a time when the United States and others fear it is trying to develop nuclear weapons and a greater ballistic missile capability.

Iran initially announced that it had launched a "space rocket'' on Sunday. But the deputy head of Iran's Space Research Center, Ali Akbar Golrou, later in the day clarified that the rocket did not reach orbit level and was carrying a research package.

He said the rocket was built to soar to a maximum altitude of 93 miles. Space is considered to begin at 60 miles. Ham radio satellites -- the lowest flying satellites -- orbit between 100-300 miles, while communication, weather and global-positioning satellites fly between 250-12,000 miles up.

Golrou did not specify how high Sunday's rocket actually went. He said the launch "was aimed at improving science and research for university students.'' His comments suggested the rocket was a "sounding rocket,'' used to conduct high-altitude measurements and testing.

Iranian officials have said the country wants to launch a satellite on an indigenous rocket and indicated they are developing a Shahab-4 missile to do that.

Some Western experts have expressed fears Iran's space rocket program may be a cover to more fully develop its military ballistic missiles.

Ephraim Kam, a strategic analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said it was known that the Iranians were seeking to develop rockets capable of putting satellites into orbit.

If Sunday's launch was successful, it could show Iran is developing a capability to build longer-range missiles able to reach Europe.

"If this is true, it has more significance for other countries, for Europe, than it does for Israel. They have already had missiles that can reach Israel for several years,'' Kam said.

Iran's powerful ballistic missile, the Shahab-3, is believed to have a range of around 900 miles, putting Israel and much of the Middle East in range.

The rocket launch came at a time of increased tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear program, which the United States and some European countries fear aims to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran denies the claim, saying its nuclear program and its space program are both peaceful.

The United Nations in December imposed trade sanctions on Iran, banning the sale of goods connected to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs after Tehran rejected demands it suspend part of its nuclear program. Unlike Iran's nuclear program, though, there has been no concerted international attempt to end the country's space program.

In 2005 Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket, in a joint project with Moscow, which appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran. Iran signed a $132 million deal with a Russian firm in 2005 to build and launch another telecommunications satellite.

Science and Technology Minister Mohammad Soleimani said Iran would speed up its space program, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Investment in space is very serious and requires time, but we are trying to speed this up,'' IRNA quoted Soleimani as saying.

Iran hopes to launch four more satellites by 2010, the government has said, to increase the number of land and mobile telephone lines to 80 million from 22 million. It also hopes to expand its satellite capabilities to increase Internet users to 35 million from 5.5 million in the next five years.

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