Iran has test-launched a new satellite carrier with its "most powerful" solid-fuel engine to date, Iranian state television reported Monday, quoting the country's Defense Ministry.
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According to Ahmad Hosseini, spokesman for the Iranian Defense Ministry's space division, the test was "the first launch of the Zoljanah hybrid satellite carrier for sub-orbital testing."
"This three-stage carrier can compete with the world's current carriers, and has two stages of solid propulsion and a single liquid one," Hosseini added, noting that the rocket had been launched for "research purposes."
Hosseini said that the Zoljanah carrier was capable of putting satellites into a "500-kilometer [310 mile] altitude orbit and carry a 220-kilogram [1,100-pound]" payload.
He also said the rocket could be launched from a "mobile platform," which provides it with "special capabilities."
Footage released by the state broadcaster showed the rocket being launched in a desert area. The specific place and time of the test were not reported.
However, the Mehr news agency reported that the launch was carried out in the Semnan province, where the government has a space center.
Last April, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps launched the country's first military satellite, the Nour, into orbit after a similar launch had failed two months earlier.
The IRGC said that the military satellite orbited the Earth at 425 kilometers [264 miles] and was carried by the Qassed rocket, which used a liquid and solid propulsion similar to that of the Zoljanah model.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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