Iran launches first home-made satellite into space

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-18 09:52

TEHRAN - Iran announced Sunday that it launched a satellite into space earlier in the day, the country's first domestically made.

The Safir (ambassador) satellite-carrier rocket, which will carry Iran's Omid (hope) satellite, is seen before launch at Iran's space centre in Tehran August 17, 2008. [Agencies]

The satellite, Omid (hope), was launched Sunday by using Safir (ambassador) satellite-carrier rocket, the armed forces said in a statement, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

The Omid Satellite which was successfully fired on the birth anniversary of the last Imam (prophet) of Shiites, Hazrat Mahdi (who is believed to reappear at the end of the world) illustrated the auspicious name of the Imam in the space, IRNA said.

According to Iran's English-language Press TV satellite channel, the domestically manufactured Omid Satellite will pass over the country six times a day.

The launch of Safir rocket aimed to test remote sensing, satellite telemetry, and geographic information system (GIS) technology as well as remote and ground station data processing, Press TV said.

Another news agency Fars quoted government spokesman Gholam- Hossein Elham as saying that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was at the launch of the communications satellite from Iran's space station.

In February, Iran said it has prepared for the satellite launch by sending a probe into space of a rocket on the mission.

Ahmadinejad announced in his press interview in Istanbul Friday that Iran would in near future launch its first domestic satellite to the space.

Iran, embroiled in a standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear ambitions, has pursued a space program for several years, according to media reports.

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