Iran Launches 3 Satellites Using Homegrown Technology

Iran achieved a historic milestone in its space program Sunday when it simultaneously launched three domestically developed satellites into space for the first time, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported. The satellites, named Mahda, Keyhan-2, and Hatef-1, were propelled into an elliptical orbit at a minimum altitude of 450 kilometers above the Earth.

This achievement was accomplished using the Simorgh (Phoenix), an indigenously built launch vehicle, from Semnan province in central Iran. The primary satellite, Mahda, is a communications and research satellite tasked with evaluating the performance of the Simorgh launcher across various functions, as well as testing new designs and technologies in space. The other two satellites, Keyhan-2 and Hatef-1, are nanosatellites focused on enhancing global positioning and communications technology.

This launch comes on the heels of another notable event in Iran’s space exploration efforts. On January 20, Iran announced the successful deployment of Soraya, a lightweight 47-kilogram research and telecommunication satellite. Soraya was launched using the Qaem-100, a three-stage solid-fuel launch vehicle developed domestically in Iran.