Iran Launches Homegrown Satellites Nahid-2 and Tolou-3
Iran revealed two domestically produced satellites, Nahid-2 and Tolou-3, at a ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday, according to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) news agency. Tolou-3 is an earth observation satellite produced by Iran Electronics Industries, weighing in at 150 kilograms, making it Iran’s heaviest satellite to date. The satellite is planned to be sent into orbit 500 kilometers above the earth.
Nahid-2, built by the Iranian Space Research Center, is a communications satellite with a minimum lifespan of two years and will also be positioned in a 500-kilometer orbit above the earth. Both satellites have been commissioned by the Iranian Space Agency and are, according to the IRIB report, ready for launch.
Isa Zarepour, Iranian minister of information and communications technology, announced that another homegrown satellite, Zafar (Triumph), is set to be ready for launch by May, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Iran successfully launched the Khayyam satellite in August 2022 from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan, via Russia’s Soyuz satellite carrier rocket.
