Hassan Salary, head of the Iranian Space Agency, told Tasnim that two remote sensing satellites, Zafa and Paya, ready to be released last year, will be sent into orbit of Russia’s Soyuz rockets this fall. He added that domestic launch options are still under review.
The satellite was announced in 1402 in Iranian years and was scheduled for launches in 1403 at foreign launchers, but delays from the Russian side pushed back the timeline.
Salarieh also said that the first phase of Shabahar Spaceport (designed for solid fuel launchers) will be operating by the end of the year, including launch pads, command centers, telemetry systems, and infrastructure such as power supplies and roads. Once the test is complete, the first trial will be released. Phase 2, which focuses on medium liquid fuel launchers, will begin construction this year.
He added that the second test model of the NAHID-2 communications satellite is also scheduled to be released at domestic Simorgh launchers this year.
MNA/TSN3377829