Iran's Space Rockets

I wanted to figure out for myself what Iran uses to launch satellites.

The Iranian space program began in 2004 with the establishment of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA).

Back in 2005, ICA Director Reza Taghizadeh announced that Iran was allocating $500 million over the next 5 years with the goal of reaching 8th place in the list of space powers that independently launch satellites.

The first successful orbital launch took place on February 2, 2009, when the Safir launch vehicle launched the Omid satellite into orbit.

Some of the launches, starting in 2020, are carried out by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), which is conducting its own space program, different from the ICA – they have designed their own launch vehicles and satellites

In total, 19 launch attempts are known, both by the ICA and the IRGC, of which 10 were successful.

The IRGC and ICA use different launch vehicles, developed independently.

Most of these missiles (except the all-solid-fuel Kaem-100) have a first stage based on Shahab-3 ballistic missile technology.

The second stage is different for each launch vehicle, sometimes based on other Iranian ballistic missiles (Shahab-5), or North Korean rockets and space launch vehicles (Unha), or designed specifically for space.

A few words about the Shahab-3 missile, as the basis of Iranian rocket engineering.

“Shahab” means “meteor”

The first Iranian ballistic missiles, the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, were based on the Soviet R-17, also known as the Scud-B. Having gained experience in designing and improving missiles, Iranian engineers made the two-stage Shahab-3 based on the North Korean Nodong missile and subsequently made several modifications to the Shahab-3, significantly increasing its range, accuracy and reliability, so that even now, more than 25 years after the first launch, modifications of the Shahab-3 are still on combat duty in Iran in the amount of several hundred.

Launch vehicles of the Iranian Space Agency

Safir
- Steps: Two-step.
- Dimensions: diameter 1.25 m, length: 26 m, launch weight 22 tons
- Payload: About 25 kg to low Earth orbit (LEO), 65 kg in version 1B
- Satellites: Omid (successful launch in 2009), Rasad (successful launch in 2011), Navid (successful launch in 2012).
- Launches: 4 successful and 4 unsuccessful launches
Simurgh
- Steps: Two-step.
- Dimensions: diameter 2.4 m, launch weight 80 tons
- Load capacity: About 250 kg at LEO.
- Satellites: Peyam (failed launch in 2019), Zephyr (failed launch in 2020).
- Launches: 1 successful and 5 unsuccessful launches

IRGC Launch Vehicles

Qased
- Steps: Three-step.
- Size: diameter 1.25 m,
- Fuel: Liquid on 1st stage, solid on 2nd and 3rd
- Load capacity: About 350 kg at LEO.
- Satellites: Nur
- Launches: 3 successful
Qaem-100
- Steps: Three-step.
- Fuel: solid
- Load capacity: About 80 kg at LEO.
- Satellites: Nahid, Soraya, Chamran
- Launches: 2 successful and 1 unsuccessful launch
- Being entirely solid-fueled, it is clearly a dual-use missile.

Number of Iranian launch attempts in recent years

2021 – 2

2022 – 1

2023 – 2

2024 – 3 (as of September)

These rockets launch both military observation and communications satellites, as well as technological experiments and satellites for testing technologies.

The first generation missiles are being replaced with new ones.

It was announced that there would be no more launches of the Safir rocket, and that it would be replaced by the Zuljanah rocket with solid-fuel first and second stages and a liquid-fueled third stage, which had already made two test suborbital launches.

The IRGC's Kaem-100 missile will be replaced by the more powerful Kaem-105 with an enlarged second stage as early as 2025.

Iran's space program and ballistic missile program feed each other with knowledge and technology.

In the coming years, we can expect an increase in the number of satellites launched by Iran, primarily the IRGC, as well as an increase in their mass.

https://space.skyrocket.de/directories/launcher_iran.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahab-3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuljanah_(rocket)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_Corps_Aerospace_Force

https://spacelaunchnow.me/launch/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Space_Agency