Iran launches student-built satellite

Iran says it has launched a satellite into space, a fully indigenous project built by Iran university students. Students at the Sharif University of Technology built the satellite, named Promise of Science and Industry, under the direction of Hossein Bolandi, a member of Iran's High Council of Space, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported Friday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order for the Friday launch via videoconference, it said. Head of State Spatial Organization Hamid Fazeli told IRNA the microsatellite, weighing 110 pounds, would have applications in various fields including meteorology, management of natural disasters and measuring the temperature and humidity of air. The launch coincided with the 33rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, IRNA reported.