Iran successfully launched three satellites for the first time using a launch vehicle developed by the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces Logistics Ministry, state media reported, a milestone that the West fears will boost Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
On Sunday, the satellites were launched into a minimum orbit of 450 kilometers (280 miles). One satellite weighing 32 kilograms (71 pounds) and two nanosatellites weighing less than 10 kilograms were propelled using the Phoenix satellite launch vehicle.
State media said the nanosatellites, named Kayhan-2 and Hatef-1, will be used to test narrowband communications and geolocation technology.
The larger satellite, called Mahda, was built by the Iranian Space Agency to test the accuracy of the Phoenix rocket in delivering a variety of cargo into space. The Phoenix rocket has failed many times in the past.
An Associated Press analysis of the launch video showed the launch took place at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in the rural Semnan province of Iran.
“The roar of the ‘Phoenix’ (rocket) echoes in the skies of our country and in the infinite space,” state television reporter Abbas Rasouli said in the video.
The launch comes as tensions rise across the Middle East amid Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, raising fears of regional conflict. Iran-linked groups in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon have carried out attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests in solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel’s bombing campaign in the past four months has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians.
Iran launches three satellites as tensions with Western powers rise
Nuclear and ballistic programs
Earlier this month, Iran launched its Sorayya satellite using a rocket built by the country’s military Revolutionary Guards, which Europe believes will be used to develop long-range ballistic missiles.
Iran rejected the condemnation on Saturday, saying it had the right to peacefully pursue technological advancement in the aerospace sector.
Meanwhile, the U.S. intelligence community’s 2023 Global Threat Assessment said the development of satellite launch vehicles has brought Iran one step closer to developing missiles, adding that the Phoenix may be a dual-purpose rocket.
Under former President Hassan Rouhani, Iran slowed its space program to ease tensions with the West, but has made progress under President Ibrahim Raisi.
The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launch violated U.N. Security Council resolutions and called on Tehran to refrain from activities involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. United Nations sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.
Since the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, Iran has increased its uranium enrichment levels to near weapons levels, despite assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies and others that Tehran has not yet begun actively pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
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2024-01-28 14:28:06
