Iran plans to build new Home-Made Satellite Carrier

Iran plans to build a new home-made satellite carrier with a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before the end of the country's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015). Director of Iran's Aerospace Industry Organization Mehdi Farahi said Sunday that the design and production of satellite carrier rockets with a range of 1,000 kilometers are given a high priority in the country's Fifth Five-Year Development Plan. He added that such carrier rockets could place satellites, weighing up to a ton, into circular orbits about 1,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Iran also in February announced plans to display its new achievements in space fields by sending heavier home-made satellites to higher altitudes by the next few years. There would be a new round of space progression in Iran by 2013. Iran plans to send Tolou (Rise) and Fajr (Dawn) satellites into orbit and improve satellite carriers by efforts made by experts in this regard. Iran would be able to put satellites into orbit of up to 36000 km.