Iran's Chabahar Space Center to be completed by March 2025

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Sep 2023 17:09
2 Shares

The Chabahar Space Center is scheduled to be fully operational and capable of carrying out international space launches by the end of March 2031.

Illustrative purposes: Rocket is displayed at the Semnan launchpad. (FARS news)

Iranian Space Agency (ISA) spokesperson Hossein Dalirian announced on Monday that Iran plans to complete the initial design and construction of the Chabahar Space Center by March 2025.

This will pave the way for low-orbit launches, the official said.

"The National Chabahar Space Center has three phases. The ISA is in the middle of phase 1, and we hope that in the first part of the year 1403 [March 20 - September 21, 2024] and in early 1404 [the third decade of March 2025] it will be possible to launch a sun-synchronous satellite on board solid-fuel strategic launchers," Dalirian was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

In line with the ISA's 10-year space program, the Chabahar Space Center is scheduled to be fully operational and capable of carrying out international space launches by the end of March 2031, the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, the Iranian Space Research Center (ISRC) announced that it will hold a public tender to construct a research satellite for navigation. Tehran has also announced plans to launch several satellites this year.

The Race to Space

The race to space has historically been attributed to global rivals such as the US, China, and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union).

However, in light of recent global developments, the race has intensified, and as Iran continues to make landmark strides in technological advances in the aerospace industry, it is catching pace with global powers -- which has been met with mixed reactions by the West.

In 1984, Iran launched its space program and was focused on developing sounding rockets and small satellites, which it successfully developed and launched in 1999.

In 2009, it developed its first domestically-made satellite, Omid; in 2011, it launched its first military reconnaissance satellite.

In 2012, it launched its first telecommunications satellite; in 2013, it conducted a test of its space launch vehicle, Simorgh; and in 2020, it launched its first military satellite, Noor-1.