Today, Tuesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the launch of a second satellite for military purposes, stressing that the new satellite is a "reconnaissance satellite", in a move related to Tehran's space program.
The official IRNA news agency said that the Revolutionary Guards launched a military satellite called "Noor 2" into space by means of the Qasid satellite carrier, and it has successfully settled in its orbit around the Earth at a distance of 500 km.
She explained that the satellite was launched into space by the "Qased" satellite carrier missile by the Air-Space Force of the Revolutionary Guards, and was successfully placed in orbit at an altitude of 500 km.
The Revolutionary Guard did not specify - according to a statement published on its official website, "Sepah News" - the date of the launch, but indicated that it took place from the "Shahrud Desert" in Semnan Province, located about 300 km east of Tehran.
The Commander of the Guard, Major General Hussein Salami, praised the placement of the new moon, considering it a "great progress", in statements on the sidelines of the launch, considering that presence in space is one of the standards of developed countries in the world.
In turn, Minister of Communications Issa Zareepour confirmed that "the first signals from Noor 2 were successfully picked up by ground stations," explaining that the moon "will revolve around the Earth once every 90 minutes, and its mission extends for at least 3 years."
With the launch of Noor 2, Iran now has two military satellites in near-Earth orbit.
The Revolutionary Guard launched the first satellite, Noor 1, into space on April 23, 2020, with a dual-fuel (solid and liquid) destination missile from the central plateau, central Iran, and it was in orbit around the Earth at a distance of 425 km.
Iran's launch of its second satellite comes at a time when it is close to reviving its nuclear deal with major powers.