The launch of the Zafar satellite "failed," Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said on Twitter. Iran therefore failed on Sunday to put its scientific observation device into orbit as part of a space program that the country says is "peaceful", but which the United States has described as "provocation" .
"The Simorgh (launcher) successfully propelled the Zafar satellite into space but the launcher did not reach the speed necessary to put the satellite into the desired orbit," said the spokesman for the ministry’s space department. of Defense, Ahmad Hosseini, without indicating where the satellite was now.
Increased tensions with Washington
"We have achieved most of the objectives we had and acquired data, and in the near future, by analyzing this data, we will take the next steps," he said. "We are INVULNERABLE! We have other awesome Iranian satellites coming! "Said the Minister of Telecommunications.
The launch comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington since the withdrawal of the United States in 2018 from an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. Washington had previously warned against the Iranian space program, calling Tehran's launch of a rocket in January 2019 a violation of a UN resolution to limit the development of its ballistic capabilities.
"A new step"
On February 1, the head of the National Space Agency Mortéza Bérari had told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the manufacture of Zafar had "started three years ago with the participation of 80 Iranian scientists". His "main mission" should be to "collect images", he said, in particular to study and prevent earthquakes, "prevent natural disasters" and develop his agriculture.
"This is a new step for our country," he said, recalling that Iran had already managed to place a satellite in orbit 250 km from Earth. In January 2019, Tehran announced the failure to launch its Payam (“Message”) satellite, which, according to the authorities, is also intended to collect environmental data.
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