Iran intends to use the successful
Feb. 2 launch of its Omid store-and-forward communications
satellite to spur development of larger spacecraft and higher-capacity versions
of the Iranian-built Safir-2 rocket that placed it into orbit, an official with
the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) said.
In a Feb. 12 address in Vienna to
the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Reaza Taghipour Anvari of ISA said Omid's development is viewed by the Iranian government
as a way to encourage interest in high technology.
"[A]ll
the work from design to manufacturing to test and operation of the satellite
and its launch vehicle has been done by Iranian experts and engineers," Anvari said, according to a copy of the presentation
provided by COPUOS.
U.S. Space Surveillance Network data
confirmed that the two-stage Safir-2 rocket placed
an object into an orbit with an apogee of 237 miles (382 km) and a perigee
of 150 miles (242 km), inclined at 55 degrees relative to the equator.
Anvari said these were the approximate
orbital coordinates expected for the 60-pound (27-kg) Omid,
which measures 40 cubic centimeters and operates in the UHF communications
frequency band.
Anvari said the Safir-2 rocket, 72 feet (22
meters) long and weighing more than 57,320 pounds (26,000 kg) at launch, was
operating to its maximum potential in the Omid
launch.
Much of the attention of the United
States, Europe, Japan and other nations has been on what conclusions may be
drawn about Iran's missile-development work from the successful satellite
launch. ISA, in a statement after the launch, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed
Western accusations that Iran's space program has military ambitions.
Anvari did not touch on that subject in
his prepared presentation, but focused instead on technology development that has accompanied the Omid
program. He said these include the development of three tracking, telemetry and
command stations, four ranging stations and a flight control center. Domestic
development of the software for the ground network has been a key element of
the Omid and Safir-2 investment.
Iran launched
its first satellite in 2005 aboard a Russian rocket, and began developing Omid in 2006, a year after the Iranian government announced
it would spend $500 million on a domestic space program between 2005 and
2010.
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