Revolutionary Gaurd launched ‘Noor’ from the Qassed satellite carrier deployed in Iran’s Central Desert
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said on April 22 that they had successfully launched their first military satellite in the orbit, a programme which has heightened the tensions between Washington and Tehran over the collapse of the nuclear deal and missile development. The elite forces announced the development on their website, “The first satellite of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been successfully launched into orbit by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
The state TV announced that “Iran’s first military satellite, Noor, was launched this morning from the central desert of Iran. The launch was successful and the satellite reached orbit.” The statement on the website further said that the satellite ‘Noor’ or light was deployed from a satellite launcher called Qassed, meaning ‘messenger’, deployed in the Markazi Desert. The satellite orbited for 425 km above the earth and was branded by IRGC as a ‘great success’ and ‘new development’ in the field of space exploration for Islamic Iran.
Tensions between US and Iran are only growing with US officials suspecting that the launch of the satellite is mainly to hide Iran’s long-range ballistic technology which could be engineered in satellites and used as launchpads for nuclear warheads from space. Tehran has denied these assertions saying that they are not covering up for ballistic missile technology and haven’t pursued the development of nuclear weapons. The launch comes months after the assassination of top military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike carried out by the United States in Baghdad on January 3.
