Iran launches satellite as part of Western-criticised programme, amid rising regional tensions

Tehran said it had conducted a successful launch of its Soraya satellite into its highest orbit yet, about 750 kilometres above the Earth’s surface

The launch was part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ space programme, which the West fears improves the country’s ballistic missile capabilities

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Iran said on Saturday it had conducted a successful satellite launch into its highest orbit yet, the latest for a program the West fears improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles. Photo: Weibo

Published: 10:39am, 21 Jan 2024Updated: 5:02pm, 21 Jan 2024

Iran said Saturday it had conducted a successful satellite launch into its highest orbit yet, the latest for a programme the West fears improves Tehran’s ballistic missiles.

The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel’s continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and just days after Iran and Pakistan engaged in tit-for-tat air strikes in each other’s countries.

On Saturday, a missile strike flattened a building used as a base of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in Damascus, Syria, killing five Guards and an unspecified number of Syrian troops.

Also on Saturday, the United States conducted new strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea over the war, and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq struck a base housing US troops, wounding several personnel.

The Iranian Soraya satellite was placed in an orbit about 750 kilometres above the Earth’s surface with its three-stage Qaem 100 rocket, the state-run IRNA news agency said. It did not immediately acknowledge what the satellite did, though telecommunications minister Isa Zarepour described the launch as having a 50-kilogram payload.

The rocket about to blast off from a mobile launcher, with a religious verse referring to Shiite Islam’s 12th hidden imam written on its side. Photo: Weibo

The launch was part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ space programme alongside Iran’s civilian space programme, the report said.

Iran launches satellite as part of Western-criticised programme, amid rising regional tensions

Tehran said it had conducted a successful launch of its Soraya satellite into its highest orbit yet, about 750 kilometres above the Earth’s surface The launch was part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ space programme, which the West fears improves the country’s ballistic missile capabilities