Iran has completed construction of its new remote-sensing satellite, Pars-2, an upgraded version of the Pars satellite. The satellite has also been placed on the country’s launch schedule, according to Hassan Salarieh, head of the Iranian Space Agency.

Speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology to mark Space Week, Salarieh said Pars-2 has an imaging accuracy of better than three metres. He said details about its launch would be announced later.

According to Salarieh, Iran’s space sector has made significant progress in recent years, particularly over the past two years, describing the achievements as unprecedented. He attributed the progress to joint efforts by the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, universities, research centres and other organisations involved in the space sector.

Highlighting recent achievements, he said Iran’s first telecommunications satellite, Nahid-2, had been successfully placed into orbit and most of its tests had been completed successfully. The project was developed by experts at the Iranian Space Research Center under the Communications Ministry, with support from a network of knowledge-based companies. Work is now underway on more advanced generations of the satellite, he added.

Salarieh also highlighted the consolidation of Iran’s satellite-launch vehicle capabilities, including the performance of the Qaem-100 carrier rocket. He said the Chamran satellite project had also been completed successfully.

Regarding heavy-lift launches, he said the next major achievement would be placing the heaviest payload to date into orbit using the Simorgh carrier rocket. Defence Ministry officials are working on the project, he said. Testing of simulator software for the Saman orbital transfer block, developed by the Space Research Center, has also been completed in conjunction with the Simorgh rocket. The Saman block plays an important role in delivering payloads to higher orbits, and an upgraded version is currently under development.

Salarieh further said that the first prototype of the “Martyr Soleimani Constellation” was unveiled last year during celebrations marking the Fajr Decade. Construction of the constellation is now underway, and he described it as one of the most important space-industry projects under the Communications Ministry.

Source: Mehr News Agency