Tehran: Almost a week after the Revolutionary Guards’ launch of a research satellite drew criticism from the West, Iran claimed on Sunday to have launched three satellites into orbit simultaneously. “Three Iranian satellites have been successfully launched into orbit for the first time,” according to state television.
It further stated that the satellites were launched into a minimum orbit of 450 kilometers (280 miles) and were transported by the two-stage Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier.
According to the official IRNA news agency, Iran’s Space Agency developed the 32-kilogram Mahda satellite, which is intended to test sophisticated satellite subsystems.
The other two, Kayhan 2 and Hatef, weigh under 10 kilogrammes each and are aimed to test space-based positioning technology and narrowband communication, IRNA added.
Last week, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent the research satellite Soraya into space.
Britain, France, and Germany condemned that launch in a statement rejected by Iran as “interventionist”.
Western governments including the United States have repeatedly warned Iran against such launches, saying the same technology can be used for ballistic missiles, including ones designed to deliver a nuclear warhead.
Iran has countered that it is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its satellite and rocket launches are for civil or defence purposes only.
The Islamic republic has struggled with several satellite launch failures in the past.
The United States chastised it severely after it launched Nour-1, its first military satellite, successfully into orbit in April 2020.
Since Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a historic nuclear deal that granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities intended to prevent it from developing an atomic warhead, Tehran has been subject to crippling US sanctions.
Iran has consistently maintained that its actions are wholly peaceful and denied having any desire to acquire nuclear weapons.
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