Iran to put three satellites into orbit this year

An Iranian aerospace official has said the country plans to launch three indigenously designed and manufactured satellites into orbit during the current Iranian calendar year, which started March 21, 2014.

According to reports, Iran Space Agency (ISA) Deputy Head Hamid Fazeli said that Sharif Sat, Tadbir and Fajr satellites will be lifted into space before the end of the year.

Fajr is a monitoring satellite, which has been developed by Iranian experts at Iran Electronics Industries, known as SAIRAN. It is said to be a reconnaissance satellite powered by solar energy. Iran plans to send up the satellite onboard the upgraded Safir carrier rocket.

Fajr satellite will be reportedly placed in an elliptical orbit of 400 kilometres in radius, and will remain in space for a year and a half.

Tadbir, developed by students and academics at Iran University of Science and Technology, weighs about 50 kilograms and is an upgraded version of the Navid-e Elm-o Sanat satellite, which was put into space earlier.

The satellite has higher precision in taking photos compared to its predecessor, and its interactive computer system enables 16 users to send and receive information in any geological position. It is equipped with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and can be tracked anytime from a ground station.