IRGC tests 'Ghaem 100' satellite launcher

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The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force successfully conducted a test launch of the Ghaem 100 satellite carrier into earth's sub-orbit on Saturday.

IRGC Aerospace Force commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh attended the test launch alongside a group of officials of the Iranian armed forces.

The Ghaem 100 is a three-stage satellite launcher that uses solid fuel. It is capable of launching 80 kg satellites into orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers from the earth's surface.

The IRGC Aerospace Force launched Noor-2, another indigenously made satellite, using the domestically-built three-stage rocket propelled by a mix of solid and liquid fuels launcher Qassed (messenger) on March 8, 2022, and it is orbiting Earth at an altitude of 500 km.

Noor-2 was launched for reconnaissance, and it went into orbit 480 seconds after launch at a speed of 6.7 km/s.

Likewise, the launch vehicle has three stages, two of which use solid fuel and one of which uses liquid fuel. It was designed to launch satellites into orbit and was tested for the first time in February 2021.

This is not only a major step toward boosting the country's military capabilities, but it is a manifestation of Iran's efforts in combatting the unilateral sanctions imposed by the US after it withdrew from the nuclear deal aimed at reducing Tehran's nuclear activity and offering the Islamic Republic sanction relief.

Iran began its space program in the early 2000s, building its own satellite launcher on the Shahab-4 surface-to-air missile. The Semnan launch pad in the country's north was built in 2009.

Due to high costs, Iran's space program was suspended between 2015 and 2017. Two civilian test launches failed in 2019, but the Iranian military successfully launched two satellites into orbit in 2020 and March 2022.

Later on, the head of the Iranian Space Agency said his country was continuing the production of indigenous satellites, with plans to launch in March 2023 seven homegrown satellites.

The spacecraft planned to launch in 2023 include the Iranian Nahid, Pars-1, and Zafar satellites, which Tehran already has in its arsenal. The remaining four are still under construction.

The satellite series of Nahid, Pars-1, and Zafar are up there as the most modern Iranian spacecraft. They were designed for telecommunication purposes and for measuring radiation in space.