Tehran joins top 11 nations having space technology

Tehran: Iran launched a research rocket on Monday and unveiled its first major space centre that will be used to launch research satellites, state-run television reported.

The report said the rocket, which is capable of carrying a satellite, was the first launched by Iran 'into space,' but analysts have expressed doubts about similar technological achievements announced by the country in the past.

Iran launched its first domestically built rocket last February, which soared to the edge of space but did not reach orbit level.

"The first Iranian rocket Explorer-1 was fired into space," state-run television reported on Monday.

Space is considered to begin at 100 km above the earth. Ham radio satellites - the lowest flying satellites - orbit between 160-500 km , while communication, weather and global-positioning satellites fly between 400-20,000 km up.

Yesterday's report did not specify the altitude reached by the research rocket, but state TV showed live images of the launch from the space centre, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issuing the launch order.

Some Western experts have raised the possibility that Iran's space programme may be a cover to more fully develop its military ballistic missiles, a prospect many find troubling at a time when the US and others fear Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons - a claim Iran denies.

First centre

"With the launch, Iran has joined the world's top 11 countries possessing space technology to build satellites and launch rockets into space," the television said.

Before the launch, Ahmadinejad opened Iran's first major space centre, which includes an underground control station and space launch pad, according to state TV. "We need to have an active and influential presence in space," Ahmadinejad said at the inauguration ceremony.

Ahmadinejad also unveiled the country's first domestically built satellite, called Omid, or Hope.

State TV said the satellite took 10 years to build, and the official news agency IRNA reported that it would be launched into orbit sometime in roughly the next 12 months.

"The research rocket is part of preparations for the launch of a satellite into orbit," said IRNA. Iranian officials have suggested that the rocket launched last February's was a 'sounding rocket,' built to soar to a maximum altitude of 150 km and used to conduct high-altitude measurements and testing. It was not immediately clear if the rocket launched yesterday was identical.

In 2005, Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket, in a joint project with Moscow, which appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran.