TEHRAN, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran plans to launch a carrier rocket capable of putting a satellite weighing up to 100 kg into orbit in a few weeks, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.
Iran's Minister of Communication and Information Technology Issa Zarepour told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that Iran is currently capable of sending satellites weighing up to 50 kg into orbit, according to the report.
The minister said Iran plans to send satellites weighing above 500 kg into orbit onboard homegrown launch vehicles in three years.
Referring to the successful launch of Iran's Khayyam satellite from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier rocket on Tuesday, Zarepour said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's administration plans to expand strategic cooperation with major countries in the space industry.
The Khayyam satellite, weighing 600 kg, has great accuracy and can help improve productivity in the agriculture sector, he said, adding that its successful launch marks the beginning of "strategic" aerospace cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.
The satellite, placed in an orbit of 500 km above the Earth, will send back high-resolution images four times a day. The initial signals from the Khayyam satellite have been received at the Iranian Space Agency's Mahdasht space base, according to Iranian media reports.
In March, Iran successfully launched the Noor-2 reconnaissance satellite at an altitude of 500 km, using the indigenous three-stage Qased (Messenger) carrier rocket.
The Noor-2 is Iran's second military satellite put into the low Earth orbit. In late April 2020, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps used the Qased carrier to launch the Noor-1 into an orbit of 425 km above the Earth. ■
