Iran Keen To Cooperate With Russia On Aerospace

Moscow, Feb 16, IRNA -- Iran is interested in cooperation with Russia in the field of aerospace, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said. He made the remarks in an interview with the Russiaˈs State Radio during his recent visit to Moscow. Salehi had a visit to Moscow from February 11 to February 12 to attend the 10th annual meeting of the Russian-Iranian Business Council (RIBC) there. Iranian and Russian officials explored the new ways to expand cooperation between the two countries in this meeting. ˈExpansion of aerospace technology is a priority of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranˈs technological power in field of aerospace is developing and Tehran has already launched five satellites into the orbit,ˈ the Iranian foreign minister told the Russian radio. Pointing to Iran’s ability in production of satellites, Salehi added that Iran needs a more advanced missiles technology for launching its future satellites into the orbit. Recently, the Defense Ministryˈs Aerospace Industries Organization announced that it has sent a monkey into the space on the back of Pishgam (Pioneer) explorer rocket, and that it has brought back and recovered the living cargo. In mid-March 2011, Iranˈs Space Agency (ISA) announced the launch of the Kavoshgar-4 rocket carrying a test capsule designed to house the monkey. The capsule had been unveiled in February 2011 by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites. At the time, Director of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli called the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020. Iran has already sent small animals into space, a rat, turtles and worms, aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010. The Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program and has, thus far, made giant progress in the field despite western sanctions and pressures against its advancement. Iran has taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first bio-capsule of living creatures into space in February 2011, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier. Omid (hope) was Iranˈs first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earthˈs atmosphere on April 25, 2009. After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers. A new generation of home-made satellites and a new satellite carrier called Simorgh (Phoenix) were among the latest achievements unveiled by Iranˈs aerospace industries. The milk-bottle shaped rocket is equipped to carry a 60-kilogram (132-pound) satellite 500 kilometers (310 miles) into orbit. The 27-meter (90 foot) tall multi-stage rocket weighs 85 tons and its liquid fuel propulsion system has a thrust of up to 143 tons. Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nationsˈ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which was set up in 1959./end