Iran Fed Up with Italians + Russians — Will Launch Their Own ComSat

Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said last Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to launch the satellite it into orbit. This move reflected Tehran’s frustration with the two countries as it tries to push ahead with an ambitious space program, which has worried world powers as the same rocket technology used to launch satellites can also be used for military purposes.

Israeli media claim the new Iranian satellite, named Misbah, or Lantern in Farsi, is a spy satellite. Iran says the satellite, which is to be launched into a low-earth orbit, is to assist in data communication. Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour touted the decision to launch the satellite as a show of Iran’s progress in space technology. “Our capability to launch a satellite has increased … we hope to launch Mesbah satellite-2 ourselves” by the end of 2011, Taqipour said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Earlier this month, the head of Iran’s Aero Space Industries, Gen. Mahdi Farahi, announced Tehran would use Italy to launch Mesbah after waiting for years in vain for Russia to accomplish the task. But Italy’s Carlo Gavazzi Space company promptly denied the report, saying it does not have the capabilities to put Misbah in orbit. Iran launched a domestically made satellite — called Omid, or Hope in Farsi — using an Iranian rocket for the first time in February. In 2005, its first satellite was launched by Russia, which has been a partner in transferring space technology to Iran along with North Korea and China. (Source: ZEENEWS.COM)