TEHRAN -- Domestically-made satellite is now a priority for the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), ISA Director Morteza Barari has announced, Fars reported.

There are a number of satellite projects underway at Iranian academic and research centers, some of them will be finished in coming months, Barari said.

According to a program provided for development of domestically-made satellite for Iran’s 1404 (March 2025-March 2026) Outlook Plan, there are some other projects, which should be done in coming years, he added.

“We aim to meet our national demands in the field of space through domestically-made satellites,” he continued.  

A wide range of knowledge-based companies are now designing and manufacturing elements used in satellite, Barari said.

Many of their products are now commercialized and the Iranian Space Agency support their efforts, he concluded.

Iranian satellites in space

Omid was Iran’s first domestically made satellite which is a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications and was successfully launched on February 2, 2009. The launch was verified by NASA the following day as a success.

Iran marks the anniversary of launching Omid satellite as National Day of Space Technology.

In January 2013, Iran sent a monkey to an altitude of about 120km (75 miles) in a Pishgam (Pioneer) rocket for a sub-orbital flight before returning intact to Earth.

Iran also sent another monkey into space at the end of 2013, as part of a program aimed at manned space flight.

As part of a comprehensive plan to develop its space program, Iran also successfully launched its second satellite, dubbed Rassad (Observation), into the earth’s orbit in June 2011. Rassad’s mission was to take images of the earth and transmit them along with telemetry information to ground stations.

The country’s third domestically-built satellite, Navid-e Elm-o Sanat (Harbinger of Science and Industry), was sent into orbit in February 2012.

SB/MQ/MG