Iran just sent its third military satellite to orbit.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the nation's armed forces, launched the Noor 3 spacecraft atop a three-stage Qasem rocket on Wednesday (Sept. 27), according to state media.
Those reports have been confirmed by the U.S. Space Force, which catalogued two objects — likely the satellite and the rocket's upper stage — in a roughly 280-mile-high (450 kilometers) orbit.
Related: Iran in space: rockets, satellites & monkeys (photos)
Noor 3 is an imaging satellite, according to Reuters. The spacecraft's two predecessors, Noor 1 and Noor 2, launched in April 2020 and March 2022, respectively, also atop Qased rockets.
Noor 1 fell back to Earth in April 2022, but Noor 2 remains operational — and may work in concert with Noor 3 when the latter satellite comes online.
"Notable that Noor 3 was launched to the *current* altitude of Noor 2, not its original altitude [of about 310 miles, or 500 km]. The two sats are in roughly the same orbital plane, suggesting they may work together. In contrast, Noor 1 was already on its way to reentry when Noor 2 was launched," astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell wrote via X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday.
Notable that Noor 3 was launched to the *current* altitude of Noor 2, not its original altitude. The two sats are in roughly the same orbital plane, suggesting they may work together. In contrast, Noor 1 was already on its way to reentry when Noor 2 was launched pic.twitter.com/S5dqol5dpRSeptember 27, 2023
The United States and its allies watch Iran's launch activity vigilantly, because rockets that loft satellites are close cousins of missiles that can deliver weapons — including nuclear warheads — long distances. Iran, for its part, claims that its satellite launches are for peaceful purposes only.
Iran is not known to possess nuclear weapons, but it does have enough highly enriched uranium to build a handful of atomic bombs, according to the United Nations.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Iran since the 1979 revolution, which resulted in the establishment of a theocratic regime. Indeed, the Biden administration imposed a new round of sanctions earlier this month, "targeting multiple people and entities in Iran, Russia, China and Turkey in connection with Tehran's drone and military aircraft development," Reuters wrote.
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