Iran says it conducted a successful space launch in a program long criticized by West
MANAMA, Bahrain — Iran said Friday it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its program the West alleges improves Tehran's ballistic missile program.
Iran conducted the launch using its Simorgh program , a satellite-carrying rocket that had had a series of failed launches, at Iran's Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province. That's the site of Iran's civilian space program.
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Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Iran's Space Program Is Growing Stronger Despite US Sanctions
(Bloomberg) -- Iran's southeastern seaport of Chabahar is a popular tourist destination renowned for its cliff-lined beaches and rugged, treeless peaks known locally as 'Martian mountains.' Soon the region will have more than just a poetic connection to outer space. Trump Signs Executive Orders on Federal Purchasing, Office Space DOGE Places Entire Staff of Federal Homelessness Agency on Leave Trump Administration Takes Over New York Penn Station Revamp How Did This Suburb Figure Out Mass Transit? Why the Best Bike Lanes Always Get Blamed For years, construction has been underway to transform the sun-drenched coastal town into an economic hub, including a spaceport that's set to open this year. The plan is to build the equivalent of Florida's Cape Canaveral to anchor the Islamic Republic's space ambitions. It's a program that President Donald Trump has tried to stop because the US sees the technologies for space launches and ballistic missiles as virtually identical. During his first term, the US imposed sanctions on Iran's space agency, but that hasn't prevented Iran from building one of the most advanced programs in the Middle East — with the Iranian Space Agency and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps both sending rockets and satellites to orbit. New projects include a network of 20 internet satellites named for Qassem Soleimani, the general killed in a Trump-ordered air strike in 2020. Concerns over Iran's development of both nuclear and missile technology have dominated the West's relationship with the Islamic Republic for more than 20 years. Since Trump's reelection, Tehran's stockpile of uranium enriched near the level needed for nuclear arms has surged more than 50%, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said, once again raising concerns about its military potential. Trump has urged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to agree to a new nuclear deal or face possible military action. Negotiators from Washington and Tehran conducted talks in Oman on April 12 and are preparing for a second meeting. Iran has had to reassess its capabilities with its partners in Gaza and Lebanon weakened by fighting with Israel after the 2023 attacks by Hamas. Its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad has also been overthrown by rebels. Western officials and experts increasingly see the Islamic Republic's sophisticated space program as a key component of its defense capabilities. 'Iran's work on space-launch vehicles — including its two-stage, liquid-fueled Simorgh satellite carrier rocket — likely shortens the timeline to produce an ICBM due to the similarities in technology,' General Anthony Cotton, commander of US Strategic Command, said in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 26. Iran's foreign ministry and the White House National Security Council didn't respond to requests for comment on this article. The Iranian space progress comes at a time when many nations and private companies are investing heavily to boost space military capabilities like spy satellites and satellite jammers. Official figures for the total cost of Iran's space program so far aren't available. With the economy squeezed by US sanctions, the government has continued to support its space program, albeit on tight budgets: Last November, a senior Iranian official said the space agency would receive around $11 million of financing to boost the sector. It's also gained from Iran's stronger relationship with Russia in recent years. In January, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic partnership agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last year, a Russian rocket launched the first two privately-developed Iranian satellites to orbit. Russia is using Iranian-made drones in its war in Ukraine and is offering knowledge developed over decades of space exploration, said Juliana Suess, researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. 'What Russia definitely has is the expertise,' she said. 'That's something that Iran is after.' Iran's ability to launch more satellites could enable it to use spacecraft to better guide offensive weapons. Iranians 'can become much more precise in their targeting and have quicker reaction times to launch their own ballistic missile forces to hit targets much more precisely,' said John Sheldon, Abu Dhabi-based founding partner at AstroAnalytica, a space consulting firm. The West is increasingly concerned about the strategic and military implications of Iran's advances. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government sanctioned Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi, head of the Space Division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force, last September and the Iranian Space Agency in October. The EU also sanctioned Jafarabadi in October, saying his division was 'involved in the development and future launch of satellite carriers, which are essential for the development of long-range ballistic missile systems.' The IRGC, the powerful branch of Iran's armed forces, was designated a terrorist organization by Trump during his first term. Iranian leaders acknowledge space's role in developing weapons, with Pezeshkian referring to Iran's space program as a driving force behind its missile development. 'Our enemies constantly try to prevent us from standing on our own feet, but this has driven us to achieve scientific and technological advancements,' he said in February. Although Iran has always denied it wants nuclear weapons and insists its uranium enrichment is for civilian purposes only, progress in space may offer Tehran an opportunity to assert resilience and strength. 'Iran has a need now, especially after the losses of its proxy power to Israel, to reestablish some kind of pathway to do power projection,' said Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven. 'They see space technology and aeronautical technology as a place to do it.' Much depends on the success of Chabahar, a project that's been plagued by delays and was meant to be ready by 2024. The opening is now set for this year, the Tehran Times newspaper reported in January, citing space agency chief, Hassan Salarieh. When it's finally finished, Chabahar will be a 14,000-hectare (54-square-mile) complex that will serve as Iran's primary hub for space missions, he said. Chabahar is critical to the Iranian government's strategy, since the facility should increase the ability to launch more powerful spacecraft. Chabahar is also closer to the equator than Iran's other launch sites, allowing rockets to take better advantage of the Earth's spin compared to more northerly sites. Working on large rockets for space 'positions them better to be able to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles,' said John Caves, senior research associate at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control in Washington. Both a space rocket and an intercontinental ballistic missile can travel outside the Earth's atmosphere. 'Some of the technology that you need to be able to have a missile go that far is similar to things that you would work on for a space launch vehicle,' he said. 'There are some things that basically they can learn from working on the space launch vehicle that then they could apply to an ICBM.' Iran's neighbors are promoting pan-Arab partnership, with 14 countries taking part in the Arab Space Cooperation Group, said Mohamed Ibrahim Al Aseeri, CEO of Bahrain's space agency. Although he said Tehran's 'very advanced capabilities' didn't pose a threat, Al Aseeri said in an interview that Bahrain needed to respond to the way Iran and other nations use space for military and security purposes. 'It is a competition and the best way to deal with it is to be ready and to develop your own technology,' he said. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have made public statements accusing Iran of using the space program as cover for military missile technologies. Officials in Tehran argue that having a space program is about securing the same access to advanced technology that's available to the West, rather than building a long-range missile threat to the US. Sina Azodi, adjunct professor of international affairs at George Washington University, said it's highly unlikely that Iran will use its space program to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, knowing that they would be easily thwarted by the US. 'The accusation against Iran is that its space program is used to cover the pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missiles, but without nuclear warheads, it doesn't make sense,' said Azodi. 'What are you going to do with that ICBM? Set up a conventional warhead to attack the US? Iran won't do that.' Much like its nuclear program, Iran sees space technology as something that can give it stature in the region and the wider world, beyond developing its military capabilities. 'Prestige is a major driver of these programs for Iran,' Dina Esfandiary, Middle East Geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics said. Still, Iran has encountered many challenges, including delays in the opening of the Chabahar spaceport. Two satellite launches scheduled for the Iranian calendar year ending in March didn't happen, with the space agency moving them to the new year. Salarieh is already talking about even more ambitious projects such as advanced capsules capable of sending humans to space. Iran's ability to achieve such goals could depend on the outcome of the negotiations with the US. The fact that the two sides are even talking is significant, said H.A. Hellyer, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington. 'These were introductory talks, so not a great deal of substance should have been expected, but what did happen was still very symbolic," he said. How Mar-a-Lago Memberships Explain Trump's Tariff Obsession Trade Tensions With China Clear Path for Salt-Powered Batteries It's Legal to Pay US Workers With Disabilities as Little as 25¢ an Hour Trump Is Firing the Wrong People, on Purpose GM's Mary Barra Has to Make a $35 Billion EV Bet Work in Trump's America ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. 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Saba Yemen
16-02-2025
- Saba Yemen
Iran launches NAOK satellite in coming days
Tehran - Saba: Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Sattar Hashemi, announced the launch of the Naok satellite in the coming days during a meeting of the Ministry of Telecommunications' Board of Assistants. He also reviewed the ministry's various work priorities, including the development of the fifth generation (5G) telecommunications network. According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency, Minister Hashemi explained that the launch of the communication satellite "Naok" in the coming days is part of the development of the country's space industry achievements. "This 40-kilogram micro-class satellite, a product of the efforts of the Iranian Space Research Institute, will be launched into space using the upgraded Simorgh space rocket," he said. "The launch of NAOK is a major step in reaching GEO orbit and enhancing the country's communication capabilities." He stressed the need to allocate the 1500 MHz band for the development of the fiber optic network. "In this period, the focus is on developing the fiber optic network with the priority of connectivity rather than coverage, which requires more cooperation from municipalities across the country," he said. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
Asia Times
05-02-2025
- Asia Times
Iran speeding up work on its nukes, two new reports say
Two conflicting reports on Iran's nuclear weapons program were disclosed this week. Both reports offer important insight into just how Tehran is speeding up work on nuclear weapons. The first report is from the New York Times which says US Intelligence has new findings on Iran's weapons program. It goes on to say that the new information was briefed to President Trump's national security team. The second report comes from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The NCRI is an anti-regime organization that operates inside Iran. The US Intelligence briefing says that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon 'faster' although the resulting weapon will be 'cruder.' US intelligence attaches a caveat to its new information, declaring that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has not made a decision to develop a nuclear weapon. The New York Times does not explain how Iran could have embarked on a 'cruder' weapon even though no decision has been made on going ahead by Iran's Supreme Leader. The NCRI paints a different picture. It says that Iran has two important nuclear facilities, one located at Sharad, which doubles as a space launch site, and the other at Semnan, that also has space launch capabilities. Both towns are east of Tehran. Sharad is kept as a top secret facility ostensibly for launching communications satellites. NCRI says it actually operates as a nuclear weapons development facility, with most of those activities underground. The Sharad launch facility features a new solid fuel Ghaem-100, a two-stage intermediate range ballistic missile. NCRI says that 3 Ghaem-100 missiles have already been launched, and a newer version, Ghaem 105 is being prepared for testing. Ballistic missiles on road-mobile launchers during a 2021 exercise. Photo: Farsnews In October, 2024 Israel launched a retaliatory attack on Iran, knocking out important Iranian air defenses and the industrial site where Iran produces solid rocket fuel for weapons such as the Ghaem. This was a strategic move to deprive Iran of solid-fuel rockets to attack Israel. Sharad is under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force. NCRI has identified the current commanders and the chief scientists involved at Sharad. The second site at Semnan officially is the Khomeini Space Launch Terminal. The site has recently been significantly expanded. The site includes a special Geophysics Group run by the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND). Allegedly the Geophysics Group is tied to Tehran University and its Earthquake Seismology department, providing a cover for bomb component testing. The Semnan facility features the Simorgh liquid-fueled missile. Simorgh is similar to the North Korean UNHA-1, an intermediate range ballistic missile. Solid-fuel missiles require far less set-up time to launch, replacing the lengthy fueling process needed for older-type ballistic missiles. Both US Intelligence and the NCRI reports converge on one important aspect of weapons design and development. The US Intelligence Report suggests that Iran has not progressed rapidly enough to develop a weapon that can be launched on an intermediate range ballistic missile. Reading between the lines, that means Iran's effort at miniaturizing a small enough warhead has not yet borne fruit. A small size nuclear warhead would be fueled by plutonium (which Iranian nuclear reactors can manufacture). Plutonium bombs require a high level of engineering and special electronics to create the implosion around the plutonium core required for a successful bomb. The 'cruder' approach would be to fall back on an uranium atomic bomb, like the one used at Hiroshima, that uses highly enriched uranium and a simpler gun-type mechanism to create a chain reaction and an atomic blast. The uranium solution is likely the 'cruder' approach US intelligence is reporting. It is noteworthy that the Hiroshima bomb was never tested fully before it was used. Iran may also think it can field a uranium bomb and not have to demonstrate one by exploding it. The Hiroshima bomb was quite large, weighing 4,400 kg (9,700 lbs.). To get it into a B-29, a four engine bomber, the aircraft had to be modified so the bomb could be lifted into the belly of the plane from a special lift in the ground under the aircraft. While a uranium bomb today might be lighter than that used at Hiroshima, it likely still would be too heavy and big for a missile. Special loading mechanism for Hiroshima 'Little Boy' bomb on B-29 Superfortress. This means Iran would probably want to deploy a weapon like this on a navy ship. Back on August 2, 1939 Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt. In that letter, Einstein pointed out that while a uranium weapon probably would be too heavy for an aircraft, it could be carried by a boat. 'A single bomb,' Einstein told Roosevelt, 'carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port with some surrounding territory.' The NCRI report concurs that Iran does not yet have a bomb it can mount on a missile but unlike the US Intelligence report, it makes clear that the IRGC is working on a weapon that is deliverable by missile – meaning a miniaturized plutonium bomb. An interesting question is: If Iran closely cooperates with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs, why does it not have a usable warhead? Iranian (and Syrian) collaboration with North Korea has been ongoing for years, and the North Koreans claim they have missile-deliverable nuclear warheads. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that North Korea has enough fissile material to build up to 90 nuclear warheads, but has likely assembled closer to 50. The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) says that North Korea has built around 30 fissile material cores for use in nuclear weapons, including four-to-six two-stage thermonuclear weapons. While the DIA does not say the 'fissile material cores' can be mounted on missiles, a Japanese report says that North Korea can miniaturize nuclear warheads. In September, 2007 in an audacious operation called 'Operation Outside the Box,' Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor at al-Kibar in Syria. That reactor was a carbon-copy of North Korea's Yongbyon 5 megawatt nuclear reactor, which produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The North Koreans partnered with Syria and Iran for the al-Kibar project. Had the reactor been operating it would have been outside of IAEA's inspection and could have produced a significant amount of fuel for sophisticated plutonium bombs. Both reports could be right in that Iran may be trying to produce both uranium and plutonium-fueled weapons. This would track just how the US developed atomic weapons leading to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and eventually to an entire arsenal of nukes with various delivery means. The US Intelligence argument that Iran's supreme leader has not made a decision on fielding nuclear weapons seems disingenuous. The IRGC, which really runs the show in Iran, is certainly investing billions in the effort, and if anything the effort has been intensified and sped up. Stephen Bryen is a special correspondent to Asia Times and former US deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. This article, which originally appeared on his Substack newsletter Weapons and Strategy, is republished with permission .
