[FPSPACE] Sino-Iranian satellite mystery

[Igor Lissov]

Stephane,

> Remember SMMS, the Small Multi-Mission Satellite ? First announced around
> 1996 and largely a Chinese initiative, it was to be a joint observation
> satellite built by and for China, Iran, Thailand, South Korea, Mongolia,
> Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Quoting myself from 
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=5060.285 ,

"As far as I found there were two different projects known as SMMS, both 
launched by now.

One SMMS (= Stereo Mapping Microsatellite) became Shiyan Weixing 1 made by 
the Harbin Technology University and launched on 18 Apr 2004.

Another SMMS (= Small Multi-Mission Satellite) is the same thing as Huanjing 
1A launched on 6 Sep 2008; it features "a Ka-band communications 
experimental subsystem which was invested by Thailand and developed by 
China" [Asia-Pacific Space Outlook, September 2008, p.2]."

I've never seen if Chinese ever said HJ-1A has some Iranian connection
but they were explicitly stating that SMMS is the same thing as HJ-1A.

Sincerely,
Igor Lissov