Iran launches satellite into orbit

Jun 15, 2011, 17:28 GMT

Tehran - Iran has launched a fresh space satellite into orbit, state television reported Wednesday.

The 15-3 kilogram Rassad-1 (Observer) imaging satellite was successfully launched 260 kilometres above the earth into space and will turn 15 times per day around the earth.

The satellite will enable contacts with and transfer pictures to ground stations, the report said.

The satellite was fully designed and constructed by Iranian experts, the report added.

Iran launched its first satellite Omid (Hope) into orbit in February 2009. The following year, it unveiled three new communications satellites, plus a domestically produced carrier, Simorq, which can take a 100-kilogram satellite into orbit.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented prototypes of four new satellites which he said are scheduled to be launched by March 2012.

Tehran has rejected Western charges that its aerospace projects have military aims and accused the West of trying to distort Iran's scientific achievements as aggression.

The United States and Israel said the same technology could be used to carry ballistic missiles, but Iran described the project simply as an 'ultra-modern scientific achievement.'

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