Iran successfully launches new satellite into orbit

Iran successfully launches new 'Navid-e Elm-o Sanat' satellite into orbit on February 3, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224625.html

The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully launched its domestically-built Navid-e Elm-o Sanat satellite into orbit following a decree by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The satellite, completely designed and built by Iranian experts, blasted into orbit late Thursday on the third day of the 10-Day Dawn celebrations, marking the 33th anniversary of the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The 50-kilogram orbiter lifted off into space with an orbital angle of 55 degrees on the Iranian-made Safir satellite-carrier.

Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said the domestically-built Navid satellite will circle the Earth at altitudes between 250 and 370 kilometers.

He added that the remote-sensing observation satellite is designed to take hi-res pictures of the globe.

The ISA chief noted that the satellite will also collect data on weather conditions, which comes in handy for weather forecasts and management of natural disasters.

Fazeli further said that the satellite is expected to orbit the Earth once every 90 minutes and send images to ground stations.

Navid-e Elm-o Sanat is a telecom, measurement and scientific satellite whose records could be used in a wide range of fields.

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite, Omid (hope), into orbit in 2009.

The Omid data-processing satellite was designed to orbit the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and transmit data via two frequency bands and eight antennas to an Iranian space station.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.

US to launch secret 'space warplane'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123813§ionid=3510203


The United States Air Force has announced that it will launch a secret space plane that has sparked speculation about the militarization of space.

The Pentagon has set April 21 as the date for the launch of the robotic space plane known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), which is a reusable unmanned plane capable of long outer space missions at low orbits.

Since the nature of the project is shrouded in mystery, defense analysts allege that the US military is building the first generation of US 'space Predator drones' that will build up the United States' space armada, the Christian Science Monitor wrote in a recent article.

Military experts argue that the US Department of Defense would not have saved NASA's costly X-37B project, which had been scrapped, if it did not have a military application.

They say the US wants to maintain a leading role in space via the development of the new 'space weapon' at a time when other countries like China are expanding their space programs.

However, US military officials maintain that the X-37B will only be used for transporting payloads and facilitating space experiments.

The OTV is capable of supporting a range of tests, the Air Force spokesperson for the project said earlier at the 26th National Space Symposium.

"The first mission will emphasize proving technologies necessary for long duration reusable space vehicles with autonomous reentry and landing capabilities," Angie Blair added.

She went on to say that the "specific details of the OTV capabilities, limitations and vulnerabilities" remain classified.

The X-37B can stay at an orbit between 200 and 800 kilometers for around 270 days before landing automatically at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, reports say.

The location of the mission control center for the Boeing-made space vehicle is also a classified secret, but Blair says that Air Force Space Command's 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron (AFSPC) will run the operation.

Military space specialist Professor Roger Handberg, who is the chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, told Space.com that the X-37B project may signify continued U.S. Air Force interest in a rapid response vehicle along the lines of the long-proposed space maneuver vehicle.

He added that the project could be viewed "as the logical extension of the push into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) where vehicles used for observation have moved into weapon carriers and various other missions, many classified."

"From the perspective of international observers, especially in space-aspiring states such as China, the X-37B program just reinforces their view that the U.S. is pushing to gain first mover advantage in rapid response, including possible weaponization of space using this vehicle or a derivative," Handberg noted.

Political analysts say that the X-37B project could be interpreted as a violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 if the space plane is used for military purposes.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, officially known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, states that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind; states shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner; the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; states shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and states shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty states: "A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment."

In addition, a proposal has been put forward for a Space Preservation Treaty that would ban all space weapons, but no country has signed the treaty so far.

Putin clarifies Iran nuclear plant launch date

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121137§ionid=351020104


Russia has announced that it plans to start up Iran's long-delayed 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear plant “this summer.”

"The start-up of the first reactor of the Bushehr atomic power station is planned for this summer," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract to build a nuclear plant in Bushehr. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran then reached an agreement with Russia in 1995. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but completion of the $1 billion project has been frequently delayed.

Putin's remarks come two days after Russian Energy Minster Sergei Shmatko said "technical reasons" are the only obstacles in the way of the long awaited launch of the Bushehr power plant.

Putin noted that Moscow will “continue work on developing atomic energy capacity both at home and abroad.”

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also announced earlier in March that the Bushehr nuclear plant will come on stream by June this year.

US brands Iran's rocket launch provocative

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117845§ionid=3510203


The US has branded as 'provocative' Iran's launch of the Kavoshgar 3 rocket, which is capable of carrying a satellite into space.

Iran on Tuesday successfully test-fired the Kavoshgar 3 satellite carrier, sending its third one into space.

"A launch like that is obviously a provocative act," White House Spokesman, Bill Burton, claimed on Wednesday.

He, however, noted that US President Barack Obama believed that the door was still open for talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

"But the president believes that it is not too late for Iran to do the right thing, come to the table with the international community and live up to its international obligations."

France also voiced concern over Iran's announcement of the launch of the rocket. A French foreign ministry spokesman attributed the issue to Iran's nuclear program and claimed that it could further complicate the issue.

"We react to the Iranian announcement with great concern," the spokesman said Wednesday.

"This announcement can only reinforce the concerns of the international community as Iran in parallel develops a nuclear program that has no identifiable civil aims," he asserted.

The Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket, carrying an experimental capsule, transfers telemetric data, live pictures and flight and environmental analysis data.

It is the most recent version of the previous models.

US beefs up military presence off Iranian shores

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117487§ionid=351020104


In addition to imposing new sanctions on the Tehran government, the US has reportedly begun beefing up its military presence and war paraphernalia off the Iranian coast.

US military officials told AP on condition of anonymity that Washington has taken silent steps to increase the capability of land-based Patriot missiles on the territory of some of its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region.

Patriot missile systems were originally deployed to the Persian Gulf region to target aircrafts and shoot down missiles before they reach their target.

According to the officials, who were expounding on the classified information in a Sunday interview, the US Navy is also upgrading the presence of ships capable of intercepting missiles.

The officials claimed that details are kept secret, because a number of Arab states fear Iran's military capabilities, but at the same time, are cautious about acknowledging their cooperation with the US.

Arab states have a long history of housing US military bases and combat equipments. Kuwait plays host to US Patriots, while the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters.

Qatar is also known to have a modernized US air operations center that has played a central role in the US wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Central Command Chief David Petraeus, who is responsible for US military operations across the Middle East, in early January warned of a series of 'contingency plans' in dealing with Iran's refusal to accept Western demands over its nuclear program.

"It would be almost literally irresponsible if CENTCOM were not to have been thinking about the various 'what ifs' and to make plans for a whole variety of different contingencies," said Petraeus in a break from the Obama administration's oft-stated claims of diplomacy with Tehran.

Petraeus has repeatedly asserted in his recent public speeches that the refurbishment of Patriot missiles is directly linked to US plans about Iran.

"Other countries have certainly increased their Patriots, a whole host of different systems; Aegis ballistic missile cruisers are in the Gulf at all times now," Petraeus added.

Equipped with advanced radar systems, the Aegis ships features a missile known as the SM-3, which came to the fore in February 2008 when it was used to shoot down a defective US satellite in space.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has spoken fervently of a new approach to missile systems, both in Europe and the Persian Gulf.

"I don't want to get into it in too much detail," Gates had said earlier in September, "but the reality is we are working both on a bilateral and a multilateral basis in the Gulf to establish the same kind of regional missile defense that would protect our facilities out there as well as our friends and allies."

The buildup comes at a critical time in Tehran-Washington affairs. On Thursday, the US Senate passed a bill advocating tough sanctions on any entity, individual, company or even country, which deals in refined petroleum with Iran.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons and has for years applied sanctions as a prime strategy to force the Tehran government into halting its nuclear activities.

This is while Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and unlike some of its regional neighbors has opened its enrichment plants to UN inspection.

Under the Bush administration, Washington had strived to portray Iran's uranium enrichment program and missile development as threats to regional stability in what analysts believe to be an attempt to justify the increased US military presence in the Middle East.