Iran's domestically-built Kavoshgar 4 (Explorer 4) satellite carrier.
Iran plans to launch another domestically-built satellite carrier, Kavoshgar 5, into space by the end of summer, the head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) says.
“Kavoshgar (Explorer)’s cargo, with a weight of 300 kg, contains a biological capsule in which a rhesus monkey will be placed,” Hamid Fazeli said on Monday.
Fazeli added that the ISA plans to study the vital signs of the living organism and obtain results, “which are important for sending humans to space in the future,” Mehr News Agency reported.
Iran unveiled four national satellites — Fajr (Dawn), Rasad (Observation), Amirkabir I, Zafar (Victory) and the Kavoshgar 4 (Explorer 4) satellite carrier — in February.
The Islamic Republic also successfully launched its second satellite dubbed Rasad (Observation) into the earth’s orbit in June.
The Rasad satellite is the country’s first such imaging device.
Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite, Omid (hope), into orbit in 2009.
The Islamic Republic is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which was set up in 1959.
