ISA to launch a bio-space capsule by March 19
Head of Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) Hassan Salarieh revealed plans for the launch of a bio-space capsule by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2024).
Salarieh unveiled the initiative during a press conference held at the ISA headquarters on Wednesday, marking World Space Week, according to Tasnim news agency.
“We are making strides in space biology,” he emphasized, as he noted a long hiatus in bio-space capsule launches.
Iran previously launched rockets carrying two monkeys into space on separate occasions in 2010 and 2011, in what Iranian officials called “a prelude to sending humans to space”.
During the press conference, Salarieh highlighted that the ongoing projects of ISA align with Iran’s decade-long plan.
“In satellite design and production, work on Pars-2 and Pars-3 observation satellites has commenced in collaboration with the Space Research Institute,” he stated.
Salarieh revealed that the construction of the Pars-2 observation satellite has already started, and the conceptual designs for Pars-3 are complete. “Our nation has achieved higher levels of precision in microsatellite design and production. The Nahid-2 telecommunication satellite serves as a successful example of this qualitative achievement,” he added.
Page 8