Iran successfully launched a device that sent a monkey into space.

According to AFP, the Arabic-language television channel Al-Alam reported on January 28 that Iran had launched a capsule carrying a live monkey into space and subsequently recovered the "cargo" intact.

The channel quoted a statement from the Aerospace Department of the Iranian Ministry of Defense stating: "Iran successfully launched a device codenamed Pishgam (Pioneer) carrying a live monkey and recovered the device intact."

(Source: ndtv.com)

Reports indicate the monkey was still "alive" after being taken to an altitude of 120 km on a suborbital flight.

In mid-January, Iran announced it would make another attempt to send a monkey into orbit, as part of its “preparations for sending humans into space” expected in 2020. In 2011, the Islamic Republic failed in its attempt to send a monkey into space.

Iran's space program is causing great concern among Western countries, who believe Tehran could be developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which they suspect are being secretly manufactured.

According to (Vietnam+) - VT