Iran Says It Successfully Test-Launched Saman ‘Space Tug’ To Move Satellites to Higher Orbit

Iran has successfully launched a prototype of a space tug that could move satellites to different and higher orbits. The Saman Orbital Transfer spacecraft, built by the country’s Space Research Center, was launched by Iran’s Defense Ministry, state media announced on Tuesday. Such advanced technology, first announced in 2017, is “only the monopoly of a few countries,” the Fars news agency reported. Hassan Salarieh, chief of the Islamic Republic’s space agency, told state TV that the Defense Ministry and the space program “hope to use and test the main tug in near future.” Iran, which has both a civilian and a military space program, has long insisted that its space program is meant for peaceful purposes.