Iran's home-made satellite ready for launch

Tehran, Jan 19 (IANS) Tehran's indigenous satellite Zafar has been delivered to Iran Space Agency (ISA) for launch, official IRNA news agency reported Sunday."The satellite will be put into orbit in the next three months," Xinhua news agency quoted Jabbar Ali Zakeri, an official of Iran University of Science and Technology that designed Zafar, as saying.Zafar is a 90 kg remote-sensing satellite equipped with colour cameras and can be used for surveying oil reserves, mines, jungles and natural disasters, Morteza Barari, Deputy Minister of Iran's Information and Communications Technology (ICT), said.The satellite can move in circular orbit and send a message during its exploratory missions, added Barari, who also heads the ISA.If the launch is successful, Zafar will orbit the earth for 18 months at an altitude of 530 km, the Iranian official noted.Iran sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space in February 2010, using a Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.Iran's first home-built satellite, Omid (Hope), was launched in 2009.
--IANS ksk/