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Iran Inaugurates Khomeini Space Launch Center, Rattling Washington D.C.

By Reza Ghorbani July 31, 2017

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Imam Khomeini Space Launch Center (IKSLC) officially opened with tentative launching of Simorgh (Phoenix) satellite carrier into the space on July 27. / MEHR News Agency

Iran officially inaugurated the Imam Khomeini Space Launch Center (IKSLC) on 27 July, marking its opening with a test-launch of a domestic satellite carrier. The center is the first of its kind for Iran, and consists of technologies needed for preparation, launching, control and guiding satellite carriers in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) .

Iran’s Defense Minister ‎Hossein Dehqan told reporters on Thursday that IKSLC will act as a command and control site, which can track and control satellites at all times.

“Today, space science and technology are of great importance to us, and the more we push forward in these and other scientific fields, the more powerful and dignified we will be,” President Hassan Rouhani posted to his Instagram page, referring to the inauguration of the space center. 

The opening of the center was marked by the launch of Iran’s satellite carrier and rocket known as Simorgh, named after an Iranian mythological bird. Simorgh is capable of placing satellites up to 250 kgs (550 lbs) into earth's orbit at a distance of about 500 kms (310 miles). The rocket, considered to be Iran’s largest to date, reportedly will be used to launch the earth observation satellite Tolou (meaning “sunrise”) at some point the near future.

In response to Thursday’s events in Iran, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert called the launching of a space satellite a “provocative action” by Iran that violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls on Iran not to conduct any activity involving ballistic missiles that are designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

“We believe that what happened overnight in the early morning hours here in Washington is inconsistent with the Security Council resolutions,” Nauert said. “We believe that what happened overnight and into the morning is in violation of the spirit of the ‘nuclear agreement’,” she added, referring to the deal Iran reached in July 2015, between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Under that agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of specific sanctions and access to frozen capital.

However, President Rouhani sees things differently. After the nuclear deal, he maintains, the way for cooperating with foreign entities as wells as accelerating Iran’s domestic space program were paved.

“In the post-JCPOA era, we have the opportunity to take note from others' experience while relying on the hard work of our own experts and scientists to earn achievements that ultimately boost national development,” Rouhani wrote on Instagram.

Simorgh's launch came as the US Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor to slap new sanctions on Iran over its development of missiles for military purposes. The legislation, which cleared the Senate by a vote of 97-2, would place additional sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program. Having already passed a House vote three days earlier by 419-, the bill, which also includes sanctions on Russia and North Korea, still needs to be sent to President Trump for signing, or his veto.

In recent years, Iran has made strides in space technology. The first indigenously produced data processing satellite, named Omid ( “hope”), went into orbit in February 2009. A bio-capsule transported living creatures into space 12 months later using Iran’s Kavoshgar-3 (“explorer”-3) carrier. And in January 2013, Iran put a monkey into space aboard another bi-capsule, named Pishgam (“pioneer”). By February 2015 the country has launched its Fajr (“dawn”) satellite into orbit, capable of taking and transmitting high quality pictures. 

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), which was set up in 1959.