Iran plans to send a crewed rocket into space in the next 10 years, state television said on Thursday, just days after the Islamic Republic announced it had put a dummy satellite into orbit.
鈥淥ne of the aims of Iran鈥檚 10-year space programme is to send a manned rocket into space,鈥� state television quoted Reza Taghipour, the head of Iran鈥檚 aerospace organisation, as saying. 鈥淲ithin the next six months to one year, the exact date of this mission will be determined.鈥�
Taghipour said Iran would cooperate with Islamic countries in building a satellite that the television report said would be called 鈥淏esharat鈥�, meaning 鈥済ood news鈥�. He also said Iran was working with Russia and other Asian states to launch another satellite.
Advertisement
Only three other nations have launched humans into space 鈥� Russia, the US and China.
Embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran said on Sunday it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a home-grown rocket for the first time.
US security officials said the launcher failed shortly after lift-off and did not reach its intended position. But Charles Vick, a senior analyst for the GlobalSecurity.org research group, said Iran appeared to have succeeded in igniting the second stage of its booster rocket and gained data that will help it perfect its launch system.
The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons. Iran says it has no such intention.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build a nuclear warhead, a charge Tehran denies, insisting its nuclear ambitions are aimed at generating electricity so it that it can export more of its massive oil and gas reserves.
