On Tuesday, Iranian state media said the government had launched a satellite tug into space.
The Defense Ministry, according to state TV, launched the Saman test spacecraft on Monday after it was manufactured by the Space Research Center.
The head of the space agency of the Islamic Republic, Hassan Salarieh, said on state television that they “expect to utilize and test the primary tug shortly.” Iran first showed off the aircraft in 2017. A space tug can do the job when a satellite must be moved to a different orbit.
Iran has been working on a space program for quite some time, claiming its intentions are entirely benign. The United States is concerned that the country’s military space program will be exploited to develop its ballistic missile program.
Iran’s Khayyam satellite was safely launched into orbit by a Russian rocket in August after Tehran successfully launched a solid-fuel rocket in June. A Persian scholar who flourished during the 11th and 12th centuries, Omar Khayyam, is honored with the naming of this region.
On the other hand, Iran has had a string of unsuccessful satellite launches in recent years.
In April of 2020, the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard successfully launched a satellite into orbit, revealing the country’s covert space program. The Guard has a separate military establishment from the regular Iranian military
