TEHRAN – In order to gain the knowledge of sending living creatures to space, a humanoid robot will be sent to space in the early next [Iranian calendar] year (to start March 21, 2021), before the final stage of sending a human, the head of Iran’s Aerospace Research Institute (ARI) said.

Any country that succeeds in sending humans into space is called a superpower in the world of technology. Iran began providing the appropriate infrastructure for sending humans into space many years ago by sending living creatures into space, Fathollah Ommi stated.

Now, in the ninth stage of achieving the goal of sending humans into space, Iran intends to launch a human model robot into space, which was designed and built by Iranian scientists, he added.

If Iran can place a human-carrying space capsule weighing about 2 tons in Earth orbit in the coming years, it will achieve this position, although there is still a long way to go, he noted, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

According to the head of ARI, the orbital phase of the project will be operational by 2025 and the suborbital phase will take place before that.

Iran has had eight tries sending to space so far and we will launch the ninth launch soon, he further stated.

The Aerospace Research Institute has been working for two years in the two general sections of developing the knowledge frontiers of space sciences and the technology section in the field of aerospace. With the efforts of this research institute, the position of this center was upgraded from the national rank of 23 to 4, he said.

Of course, the focus is not only on domestic development, the research institute is trying to be one of the 200 candidates for the World Academy by submitting articles and books in a global style, he concluded.

FB/MG