Iran's new Pars-2 satellite ready to launch
TEHRAN, Oct. 04 (MNA) – The head of Iran's Space Agency said the Pars-2 satellite, an advanced version of the Paya satellite, has been completed with imaging accuracy better than three metres and has been placed on the launch schedules.
Hassan Salarieh, speaking at a ceremony marking Space Week at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, pointed to progress in the country's space industry. He said very positive developments have occurred in recent years, especially over the past two years, which can be described as records in the field. He said Iran has reached historic milestones in many space industry development indicators, the result of teamwork across various bodies including the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, universities, research centres and other institutions active in the country's space sector.
On recent achievements, Salarieh said Iran's first telecommunications satellite, Nahid-2, was successfully placed in orbit and most of its tests were successfully completed. The project was developed by specialists at the Iranian Space Research Institute under the communications ministry with the help of a network of knowledge-based companies, and more advanced generations are now being built.
He said another major success was the consolidation of space launch vehicles, including the performance of the Qaem-100 satellite carrier. He said the Chamran satellite's performance was fully successful.
Salarieh referred to heavy launches, saying the next success was the launch of the heaviest payload by the Simorgh satellite carrier, on which colleagues in the defence ministry are working. He said the simulator software test for the Saman orbital transfer block, presented by the Space Research Institute, was carried out with the Simorgh carrier. The Saman block, more advanced versions of which are under construction, plays a major role in reaching high orbits.
The head of Iran's Space Agency also announced the preparation of a new remote sensing satellite, saying Pars-2, a more advanced version of the Paya satellite, has been completed with imaging accuracy better than three metres and has been placed on the launch programme, with details to be announced.
He added that the first example of the "Shahid Soleimani constellation" was unveiled last year during the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations, and that the constellation is under construction and is among the communications ministry's most important space industry projects.
