Roscosmos: Iranian Khayyam satellite launched alongside 16 spacecrafts

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2022 09:43
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The Russian space agency broadcasted that the Soyuz Russian rocket carrying the Khayyam satellite was launched.

Khayyam satellite launched at 10:22 am local time on Tuesday.

According to a broadcast by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, the Soyuz Russian rocket carrying the Khayyam satellite was launched, on Tuesday, from the Baikonur cosmodrome. According, to Iranian media, the satellite will help improve Iran's "agricultural productivity, monitoring of water resources, management of natural disasters and monitoring of mines."

Khayyam, named after the Persian polymath Omar Khayyam, is equipped with remote sensing technologies, which allow the satellite to provide "accurate spatial data." The satellite was created by Russian enterprises following Iranian orders. It resembles Russian-Iranian cooperation in the field of satellite technologies.

Along with the Khayyam, the rocket is carrying 16 other small spacecraft developed by top Russian academic institutions, for-profit businesses, and nonprofit organizations. They are intended for use in scientific and technical research, including testing satellite communications and electromagnetic radiation levels measurement and environmental monitoring.

The rocket will shortly launch the satellites and Fregat upper stage into low-Earth orbit, from whence they will be transported to their intended orbits.

Earlier when the cooperation between Russia and Iran in the field of satellite technology was announced, "Israel" showed a deep security concern. However, Issa Zarepour, minister of communications and information technology, stated that until space technology is indigenous, collaboration with leading nations in the space business will continue.

The Jerusalem Post wrote in its columns that "for the second time in three months, Russia is making a fuss about helping Iran in the field of satellite technology," adding that “such cooperation and progress are of great concern to "Israel" and the United States because aspects of satellite technology can have a dual use for its application to the delivery of nuclear weapons, as well as the possibility of greatly enhancing the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the Islamic Republic.”

Furthermore, in mid-June, The Washington Post reported that Russia was getting ready to provide Iran with a cutting-edge satellite that could track military targets throughout the Middle East. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the report and called it "nonsense" soon after.

Thus, the current satellite cooperation between the two countries is of a different nature than that reported in The Washington Post.