Iran today unveiled three new satellites and a satellite carrier, a year after it placed its first domestic research satellite into orbit. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen Ahmad Vahidi.
The three satellites – Tolou, Mesbah 2, and Navid – are telecommunication satellites and were domestically designed and produced.
Mesbah ("Lantern") 2 is a low-orbit communications satellite transferring data on the UHF band; it will be eased in orbit 400 to 1600 miles above the earth. It is designed to make the trip around the globe every couple of hours. It has a lifespan of three years and weighs 70 kilograms, more than twice the mass of Omid, which was placed into orbit on the back of two carrier rockets last February. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting News (IRIB News), no date has been set for the test-flight of a Mesbah 2 prototype, currently under manufacture.
Tolou ("Rise") has modern technologies, including imaging equipments, mechanism status controlling systems, and solar cells. It will be placed into the orbit by a newly developed satellite carrier called Simorgh ("Phoenix"), also unveiled at the ceremony. Simorgh weighs 87 tons and is equipped to carry a 220-pound satellite 310 miles into orbit.
At the inauguration, Iranian Defense Minister Brig.-Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told reporters: "The national satellites which were unveiled today will be sent into space by the Simorgh satellite carrier." He added that the country plans to send heavy satellites into higher altitudes in future.
Sources: Press TV, Fars, Iran, February 3, 2010
