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Iran's first space launch rocket fails to achieve orbit

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, February 26, 2007

Iran has reported the firing of its first indigenous space launch vehicle, which is capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.

But officials said the SLV failed to reach space orbit.

Western analysts said Iran plans to use the SLV program to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile. They said that any SLV capable of carrying a 300-kilogram satellite could also deliver a nuclear warhead.

The officials said the SLV, meant to probe the exoatmosphere, was constructed in a project by the Defense Ministry and Science Ministry, Middle East Newsline reported.

Ali Akbar Golrou, deputy director of the Iranian Space Research Center, said the SLV reached an altitude of 150 kilometers, beyond the earth's atmosphere but short of the altitude required for space orbit. Golrou said the rocket did not stay in orbit and parachuted to earth.

The Iranian official termed the facility fired into space a sub-orbital rocket designed for research rather than for satellite transport. Golrou said the facility was a "sounding rocket," designed to examine atmospheric conditions between 45 kilometers and 160 kilometers above the earth.

"What was announced by the head of the research center was the news of launching this sounding rocket," Golrou said. Earlier, Iranian Space Research Center director Mohsen Bahrami said the rocket had been transporting "material intended for research" produced by the Defense Ministry and Science Ministry. Bahrami said the two ministries also helped design and produce the rocket. "All the [pre-launch] tests have been carried out in the country's industrial facilities in line with international regulations," Bahrami said. "The manufacture of the rocket and the cargo was achieved by experts at the center of aerospace research and the engineering center at the Agricultural Planning Ministry." In January 2007, Iran reported the development of a plasma-thrusting engine to help guide satellites into orbit. At the time, officials said the SLV would be based on a Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile. On Feb. 24, Defense Minister Mostafa Najar said Teheran was planning to build a satellite and launcher. Najar said the ministry has sought to make Iran a member of the international space club. "We are working on constructing satellites and on rockets capable of launching a satellite into space," Najar said. In 2005, Iran launched its first such satellite. Sina-1, with a Russian-origin SLV. Iran plans to launch four additional satellites by 2010.


Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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