TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday hailed the successful launch of a second homegrown military satellite into an earth orbit by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force.
“With the blessing of God and thanks to the efforts of Iranian scientists and green-clad members of the IRGC, Noor-II Satellite was put into orbit on the shoulders of the homegrown Qassed satellite carrier,” he tweeted.
“No sanction can hamper the growth of the great Iranian nation. With this Jihadi view, achieving global flourishing in all economic and industrial spheres, including in the auto industry, is also possible,” he added.
The IRGC successfully put Noor-II (light-II), the second Iranian military satellite, into orbit on Tuesday morning.
The homegrown satellite was launched with a three-stage satellite carrier, dubbed Qassed.
The operation was carried from a launch pad located in desert in Shahroud, northeast of Iran.
The satellite was successfully placed into an orbit 500 kilometers above the earth eight minutes after the launch.
Noor-II is used for remote-sensing and reconnaissance operations.
The IRGC had launched the first Iranian military satellite, Noor-I, in April 2020.
IRGC Aerospace Force commander General Ali Jafarabadi said Wednesday Iran will be able to put satellites into the 36,000 kilometer orbit in five years.
He also said with the successful launch of Noor-II, improvements made over the past two years to space engines and satellite gear were put to the test.
In the 500-km orbit, Noor-II has a broad view and can explore environmental and natural phenomena, which would be useful in such fields as defense, agriculture, and reducing the impacts of natural disasters, Jafarabadi said.