Q & AMiddle East & North Africa

Don’t Count Iran’s Nascent Space Capabilities Out

Don’t Count Iran’s Nascent Space Capabilities Out
This photo released on Feb. 2, 2015 by the Iranian Defense Ministry, claims to show the launching Safir-e Fajr, or Ambassador of Dawn, satellite carrier in an undisclosed location in Iran (AP photo by the Iranian Defense Ministry).

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on a range of countries’ space priorities and programs.

The head of Iran’s space agency announced plans last month to launch three satellites into orbit within the next year: the Doutsi earth-observation satellite, the Tolou remote sensing satellite and the Aat Sat telecommunications satellite. In an email interview, John B. Sheldon, the chairman and president of ThorGroup GmbH, a Swiss-based consulting company, and publisher and editor of SpaceWatch Middle East, discusses Iran’s space program.

WPR: What are Iran’s space capabilities, in terms of its space-industrial complex, and what are the prospects for international space cooperation after the nuclear deal?

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