Iran plans for manned space flight by 2018 while dismissing monkey business claims

Iran claims that it will have a manned flight to space within the next five years.
Time Aerospace thumbnail

The Islamic republic celebrated sending a monkey into space last week although there was international confusion as TV pictures clearly showed two different monkeys casting doubts on whether the flight happened – or ended successfully. However, Iranian officials said this was because of a mix up with State TV which used library images of a previously unsuccessful flight in 2011 which they had widely reported. The images were the same as those issued after that mission.

At a conference this week the head of Institute for Astronautical Systems of Iranian Space Agency, Mohammed Ebrahimi, said that sending an astronaut to space as one of the Agency’s important projects.
Speaking in the closing ceremony he said: “In the second phase, this project will send first Iranian astronaut to suborbital space, and sending the astronaut to orbital space and returning him back in full health,” he said.
He asserted that to achieve this, the Institute would need to developments in 10 technology strands. “A strategic action plan should also be developed,” he added.
Ebrahimi also pointed to the Agency’s programs in the first phase, saying that “in the first phase, 2 trained Iranian astronauts will be send to suborbital space in 200Km altitude for 15 to 30 minutes.” “After this phase, launching astronauts to orbital space would be possible,” he said, “to enter this stage; much work should be done to prepare the grounds.”
Ebrahimi pointed to steps to send astronauts to space, saying that “currently, US, Russia, and China, which are world’s aerospace giants, are working on bio-capsules to send man to space.” “To send astronauts to space, we need 10 technology strands such as propellants, power production, robotic constructs, information technology and communications, bio-recognition, exploration and operations, simulation, and entry to space,” Ebrahimi said.
Commenting on the Agency’s future plans, Ebrahimi said that Iran would send its first astronauts by 2016 to 2018 to suborbital space and return him back.
Dr. Mohammad Ebrahimi, the head of Institute for Astronautical Systemsof Iranian Space Agency referred to successful launch of Pishgam probe in his news conference and said; “this project was given to Supreme Council of Space, and based on that project we have planed the man mission to space in two stages.”
The “monkey business” was still high on the agenda of the conference and Ebrahimi, defended Iran’s right to have entered the space race.
Referring to comments by Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the US States Department, that; “the Pishgam probe launch has been against the UN resolutions,” said: “The UN resolution in the question referrers to sending heavy payloads to the space, which could have military implications, but Pishgam probe was not built for military objective, and its mission has no military value, and generally speaking you cannot block Iranian scientific progress by UN resolutions.”
He added; “the next step of Pishgam probe mission is to reach 175Km into the space with a payload of 500 Kg.” Last week’s Pishgam (Pioneer) spacecraft launched reached 120km.
Meanwhile Iran has also expressed its intention to launch three new satellites into space by the end of March.

 

Related content