Iran announces preparations to send living creatures into space

According to a VNA reporter in the Middle East, on September 7, Iran announced that it will send living creatures into space within the next 45 days using a spacecraft using liquid fuel.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Director of the Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli as saying that Iran uses spacecraft using liquid fuel because it is safer, although the speed is still slow.

Earlier this year, Iran announced that it had launched a solid-fueled vehicle codenamed Pishgam - Pioneer, carrying a live monkey into space at an altitude of 120 km and recovered the vehicle intact on the ground.

This is part of Iran's "preparations to send a man into space" scheduled for 2020.

Mr. Fazeli stated that from now until the end of 2013 according to the Persian calendar (ending on March 20, 2014), Iran plans to launch homemade satellites named Tadbir, Sharifsat and Nahid into orbit.

As a founding member of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Iran launched its first domestically built data processing satellite, Omid (Hope), into space in 2009.

Next, the country launched a second satellite called Rassad (Observation) with imaging capabilities into orbit in June 2011. Before that, Iran had also launched mice, turtles, doves and worms into orbit several times.

Iran's space program has raised concerns in the West, which believes Tehran could develop ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

However, Tehran insists it only put the satellite into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone country, while also improving telecommunications and expanding military surveillance in the region./.

According to (TTXVN) - VT