The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force has successfully placed the Noor-3 Imaging Satellite into orbit, Iranian Information and Communications Technology Minister Eisa Zarepour said Wednesday.

The groundbreaking launch took place on Wednesday morning, marking another stride in Iran's growing space capabilities. The 'Noor-3' Imaging Satellite was launched into orbit using the domestically developed launcher known as Qassed, which translates to "messenger" in English.

Iranian Space Agency spokesperson Hossein Dalirian told Al Mayadeen on Wednesday that the IRGC successfully launched the Noor 3 satellite into space.

"The Noor 3 satellite is exclusive to the IRGC's airforce," Dalirian added.

The satellite now resides in orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

The Noor-3 Satellite, with its imaging capabilities, is expected to serve a variety of purposes, including remote sensing, data collection, and potentially bolstering Iran's telecommunications infrastructure.

The successful satellite launch comes as part of Iran's broader objectives in space exploration and technology advancement. The nation has steadily developed its space program, with previous satellite launches earning international attention and scrutiny.

A step back 

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.

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

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. 

The IRGC Aerospace launched its Noor-2 satellite by 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.

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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.

In May 2022, 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 includes 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.