MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Russia will launch two Iranian satellites into orbit using a Soyuz launcher on Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said on Monday, as the two U.S.-sanctioned countries deepen their scientific relationship.
“In continuation of the development of Iran-Russia scientific and technological cooperation, two Iranian satellites, Kowsar and Hodhod, will be launched to a 500 km orbit of earth on Tuesday, Nov. 5, by a Soyuz launch vehicle,” Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said in a post on X.
The development of Kowsar, a high-resolution imaging satellite, and Hodhod, a small communications satellite, is the first substantial effort by Iran’s private space sector.
The two satellites have been designed and manufactured by young Iranian scientists at Omid Faza knowledge-based company, with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), and the Iranian embassy in Moscow.
Kowsar is a high-resolution imaging satellite, whose design process started back in 2019.
Weighing 30 kilograms, it has an estimated orbital lifespan of more than three years. It has a color imaging range of 15 kilometers and an imaging rate of 6 frames per second. It is suitable for agricultural, land survey and cadaster services.
Hodhod satellite is said to be a small communications satellite, which weighs 4 kilograms and has an orbital height of 500 kilometers.
Its orbital lifespan is four years and has a variety of uses, including agriculture, land survey, transport and environmental protection.
Russia launched an Iranian research-sensing satellite, Pars 1, into space in February using a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.