Iran to launch 3 new satellites

TEHRAN - Iran is preparing to send into orbit three new home-made satellites, Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohammad Shariatmadari was quoted as saying by Iran daily on Sunday.

"Tadbir, Sharif Sat and Fajr satellites are all in the final stages and ready for launching," Shariatmadari said.

He declined to specify dates for the launch, saying that the blast-offs will take place once technical tests are concluded.

In December, a senior Iran's Space Agency (ISA) official said that Tehran would send Tadbir and Sharif Sat into orbit by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2014). "Tests are being conducted on the two satellites before the launching process," Hamid Fazeli said.

The country will soon launch another domestically-built satellite carrier Kavoshgar-7 (Explorer-7) into space.

On December 14, Iran sent a second live monkey "Fargam," by the rocket "Research" into space. In January, Iran had sent a capsule containing a monkey onboard Pishgam (Pioneer) I into space.