Iran launches first home-produced satellite

[tocqueville]

Iran launches first home-produced satellite

1 hour, 52 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran successfully launched its first home-produced communications satellite into space on Sunday, state media reported.

"President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad was at the lanch of the communications satellite Omid (Hope) from Iran's space station," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said, according to the Fars news agency.

An statement from the Iranian armed forces said it was the first launch of the domestically-built satellite, the official news agency IRNA reported.

In February, Iran said it had sent a probe into space on the back of a rocket on a mission to prepare for the satellite launch.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080817/wl_mideast_afp/iranspacecommunications_080817150515
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That's it folks... If you can put a satellite up, you can reach very far on Earth...

[Angleae]

1. They just built the satellite. They didn't launch it.

Kazakhstan launched it on a russian made rocket.

[tocqueville]

2. wrong it's an iranian rocket, practically an ICBM

that's what's make the launch interesting

A statement from the Iranian armed forces said it was the first launch of the domestically-built satellite, the official news agency IRNA reported.

"The second launch of the Safir (ambassador) rocket carrying the first satellite Omid was conducted successfully," the statement said.

Iranian state television also broadcast footage of the satellite heading into space.

Sunday's launch comes amid a standoff between Iran and the international community over Tehran's refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear work -- which some Western countries fear could be used to make an atomic bomb.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080817/wl_mideast_afp/iranspacecommunications_080817153502;_ylt=Avcow20cy8ZLjHqWkvz5GQqaOrgF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safir_(rocket)

This rocket is the equivalent of a Shahab 4, and can be considered as an ICBM

[Angleae]

3. Oops, brain fart.

A case of brain working out of sync with eyes. I was looking at the first launch.

[thewiseguy]

4. They have not launched the satellite yet. They have only tested the rocket.

It would make no sense to launch a satellite with a rocket that has not been tested.