Tel Aviv: Iran failed in launching a satellite launcher into space. The rocket exploded seconds after lift-off. Israel claims that the Iranian space program is actually aimed at upgrading their long range ballistic missiles. News website Iran International operating from London has learned that Iran’s satellite carrier rocket Zoljanah exploded after launch despite Tehran’s claim of its recent successful test-launch.
“According to information obtained from western sources by Iran International, the hybrid-propellant satellite launcher that was tested for the second time on June 26 did not even manage to cover half of its intended path to orbit.”
According to the website, the suborbital Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) is currently at the experimental stage and was not carrying any satellite during the test-launch. The source said that the Islamic Republic is yet trying to have a truly successful launch before it would mount a satellite on it. Iran claims that Zoljanah can carry satellites weighing up to 220 kilograms into an orbit 500 kilometres above the Earth.
The three-stage Zoljanah (Zuljanah) satellite launch vehicle, which has two solid propulsion phases and a single liquid propulsion phase, was test-fired at a desert launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Centre, southeast of Semnan, the site of frequent recent failed attempts. It is Iran’s third SLV after the Safir and Simorgh, the latter of which has failed five times in a row. A fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers.
However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching the Noor (Light) satellite into a low orbit circling the Earth. The IRGC launched its second reconnaissance satellite into space this March at another site in Semnan province. State media said that the Noor-2 satellite reached a low orbit of 500 kilometres above the Earth’s surface on the Qased – or Messenger — satellite carrier, also a three-phase, mixed-fuel space launch vehicle.
Tal Inbar, an Israeli space analyst told Raksha Anirveda that the fact Teheran unlike in other events cut the video immediately after the separation of the second launcher stage is creating a probable suspicion that the launch test failed.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
