[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-08-11] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi unveiled a slew of ambitious satellite programs, including prototypes of four domestically developed satellites and two remote sensing facilities, Iranian officials announced Feb. 5.
    The satellites include: color-photographing spacecraft Zafar; imagery satellite Rasad 1; military sensing satellite Fajr; and A Test, as well as a satellite carrier rocket Safir B1 and a bio-capsule named Kavoshgar 4.
    Iran claims Fajr has the capability of changing from an elliptical orbit of 300-450 kg to a circular orbit of 450 kg, increasing the lifetime of the satellite by one and a half years. Imagery taken by Rasad would be used in meteorology and identifying sea borders.
    To support these imaging services, the Iranian Defense Ministry inaugurated two remote sensing facilities Feb. 6. Vahidi said the facilities, one of which is mobile, have a range of at least 2,500 kilometers in radius, and it is capable of taking pictures of an area of 10 million square kilometers every 24 days. The imagery would be used for agricultural activities, city construction, and natural disaster management and in other areas.
    In December, Vahidi announced that Fajr and Rasad-1 would be launched by March 20. But on Feb. 6, the defense minister said a launch date for Fajr and Rasad-1 has yet to be determined, indicating their launch would likely be delayed.
    In February 2009, Iran sent its first home-built test satellite Omid into space on a Safir-2 rocket. Omid exited its orbit in May 2009, leaving Iran without an operational satellite. 
    Ahmadinejad also said Iran plans to send astronauts into space in 2024, under a five-year program that would be implemented in 2019.
    The Iranian Ministry of Defense outlined its plans for its developing carrier rocket program. “Manufacturing the long-range missiles is on the Defense Ministry’s agenda, and so far it has taken important steps in this regard. Basically we do not want to build long-range S-300 or S-400 missiles, but we want to domestically manufacture long-range anti-aircraft systems,” Vahidi said in a statement to the Mehr News Agency.

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