TEHRAN – The head of the Iranian Space Research Center Hossein Samimi announced that the center is working on five key projects, which are considered as the main achievements of Iran’s space technology, Mehr reported on Thursday.

The Nahid 1 telecommunication satellite will launch into orbit and Nahid 2 satellite will be completed during the next Iranian calendar year 1398 (starting on March 21), he said.

The satellite engineering model for Pars 1 remote sensing satellite has already been completed and its satellite flight model will be prepared during the next year, he explained.

The upper-stage system, known as SAMAN, is one of the other key projects the center aims to complete during next year, he added.

The internet balloon is another one, which become operational in the first half of 1398, he said.

He said that center aims to develop its cooperation with other organizations including Management and Planning Organization of Iran, ministry of culture and Iran Meteorological Organization during the next year.

In late February, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing lab was inaugurated at the venue of the Iranian Space Research Center.

Iran launched homegrown Payam satellite on January 15, however, the satellite's carrier rocket could not reach the "necessary speed" and so did not reach the orbit.

Payam, a 90kg non-military satellite, was planned to be sent into a 500km orbit using domestically-made Simorgh satellite-carrier rocket.

Manufactured by Amirkabir University of Technology, the image resolution of the Payam satellite was 45 meters and could stay in orbit for three years.

During a speech in February, Information and Communication Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi announced that despite the sanctions that have slowed down the country’s space technology development, there are no specific problems and the national space program is well progressing.

The U.S. tries definitely to impede Iran’s space technology and the European countries do not have any cooperation with Iran and our absolute message is that space technology improves lives of Iranians and people worldwide, he said.

SB/MQ/MG