TEHRAN, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Wednesday successfully carried out a sub-orbital flight, bringing a homegrown capsule into space for bioscience research.
In a post on the Iranian social media platform Virasty, Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Isa Zarepour said the 500-kg capsule was put into an orbit 130 km above the Earth's surface, using a Salman launcher, after 10 years of launch delay.
He said the project comes in line with the country's objective of manned space missions.
The project was commissioned by the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), the Iranian official news agency IRNA reported.
ISA President Hassan Salarieh told local media that the launch was sub-orbital, and the capsule was developed by the Aerospace Research Institute affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Science.
Salman launcher has been manufactured by the Iranian Defense Ministry's Aerospace Industries Organization, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran sent its first bio-capsule, with living creatures in it, into space in 2010. ■
