[FPSPACE] Iranian satellite launching soon

[Peter Pesavento]

>From the Associated Press

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_ahmadinejad_4

 

Iran to launch satellite with own rocket to space

 

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 25, 11:29 AM ET 

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran plans to launch a satellite into space soon using an
Iranian-made rocket, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. 

Iran has in the past launched satellites using rockets built by other
nations, but this was the first announcement of such a launch with an
all-Iranian made rocket.

Ahmadinejad said the rocket will have 16 engines and will take a satellite
some 430 miles into space, according to a state television report Thursday.

The satellite will likely be a commercial one for communication or
meteorological research purposes. Iran has never announced plans to launch
military satellites.

But the country has long pursued the goal of developing a space program,
generating unease among world leaders already concerned about its nuclear
and ballistic missile programs.

The same technology used to put satellites into space can be used to deliver
warheads, which will likely further raise concerns over Tehran's advances in
rocketry, especially in Israel.

Earlier this month, Tehran announced that a joint research satellite built
by Iran, China and Thailand, was sent into orbit by a Chinese-made rocket.
At the time, Iranian officials said the three countries suffer from natural
disasters and that the satellite would transmit photos to help deal with
such crises.

Tehran sent its first commercial satellite into space on a Russian rocket in
2005. Last month, Iran tested a rocket which it hopes will one day carry an
all-Iranian research satellite.

The remarks by the Iranian president came during his meeting with a group of
Iranian expatriates in New York, where Ahmadinejad is attending the U.N.
General Assembly.

There were no details about what type of satellite the rocket would carry,
and Ahmadinejad gave no time frame for the plan.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/fpspace/attachments/20080925/6a37acbd/attachment.html