Russia Launches Two Iranian Satellites into Space

Two Iranian private-sector-built satellites, launched by Russia from its Vostochny Cosmodrome, were "successfully put into orbit" on November 5.

Launched by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier, the Kowsar and Hodhod satellites were placed at 500 km orbit, according the Iranian state broadcaster's IRIB News Agency.

The Iranian private knowledge-based company SpaceOMID designed the two satellites. The Kowsar satellite’s mission is to create a platform for the narrowband Internet of Things and will mainly be used in precision agriculture and mapping. Hodhod will be used in agriculture, transportation, logistics and environment sectors.

Later, on the same day, the Managing Director of SpaceOMID, Hossein Shahrabi, said that two satellites had "successfully" transmitted their first signal to Earth. He added that the difference between the two satellites is that Kowsar is eight times heavier than Hodhod and is equipped with solar panels.

In February, Russia launched Iran's domestically made Pars-1 earth observation satellite on the Russian Soyuz-2.1b satellite launch vehicle (SLV) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast in Russia's Far East. The satellite, which was put into orbit at an altitude of 500 km above the earth's surface, was equipped with three cameras.

According to the head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hassan Salarieh, several similar satellites are under development, and Pars-2 will be launched by June 2025.

Iran also used Russia's Soyuz SLV to launch its Khayyam satellite in 2022. As the Washington Post claims, the Khayyam satellite is a Russian-built Kanopus-V Earth-observation satellite, and Russia will use it to enhance its surveillance of military targets in Ukraine during the ongoing war.

Meanwhile, the ISA denied the rumors, declaring that "no other country will have access to such information, and rumors about satellite imagery being deployed in service of another country's military objectives are untrue."

The agency said in another statement that Iran had chosen Russia's Soyuz to help launch its Khayyam satellite due to the country's superior satellite launch vehicle (SLV) technology. "Many countries that have mastered the entirety of the space technology cycle, who themselves possess the ability to launch satellites, nonetheless make use of Russian SLVs," it said.

The ISA also expressed a determination to develop such technology itself over the coming years.

The US has imposed sanctions on Iran's space program, and some European countries have expressed concerns that Tehran might be using the program as a cover to advance its ballistic missile systems that can facilitate the launch of nuclear warheads. Meanwhile, Iran maintains that its space program, like its nuclear program, is peaceful.

Under Iran’s relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran slowed its space program for fear of raising tensions with the West. However, the late hard-line President, Ebrahim Raisi, who came to power in 2021, pushed the program forward.

In August, ISA chief Hassan Salarieh announced that 14 domestically manufactured satellites were ready to be launched in the near future, and 30 others were being built for different purposes. According to him, six to eight domestic and foreign satellite launches are planned by the end of 2024.