Iran successfully places domestically-made Fajr satellite into orbit

Monday, 02 February 2015 1:18 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 02 February 2015 4:37 PM ]

Iran successfully places into orbit the domestically-made national Fajr satellite on February 2, 2015.

Iran has successfully placed into orbit the domestically-made Fajr (Dawn) satellite with President Hassan Rouhani issuing the order for its launch.

The satellite is capable of staying in the space for 1.5 years and taking and transmitting high-quality and accurate pictures to stations on earth.

Fajr satellite is technically characterized by an orbit which could promote from 250 to 450 kilometers through a thruster or an engine.

It is the new generation of Omid (Hope) satellite, which was designed and manufactured by Iranian experts in 2009.

Equipped with GPS navigation system, Fajr is the fourth Iranian-made satellite which was put into orbit after three others between 2009 and 2012.

The launch came as Iran started 10 days of celebrations marking the 36th anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Sunday that put an end to the monarchy of the US-backed Pahlavi regime in the country.

President Rouhani congratulated the nation on the successful launch of Fajr satellite and said the Iranian scientists have entered a new phase in space sciences.

He added that the Iranian government is determined to press ahead with its national space program, adding, “We will proceed with this path until a phase that we will be able to meet our national needs in space by all [Iranian] scientists and through local technology.”

Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan also said designing and building Fajr satellite showed the continuation of Iran's scientific progress in the field of advanced technologies.

He added that Safir-e Fajr satellite carrier has been completely manufactured by Iranian experts.

Iran launched its first locally-built satellite, Omid (Hope), in 2009. The country also sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into the space in February 2010, using Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

The country is one of the 24 founding members of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.

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