Iran is negotiating a deal with Russia’s State Corporation for Space Activities “Roscosmos” to build and launch a national remote-sensing satellite, said the minister of communications and information technology.
“The ministry has reached an agreement with the Russian side on the general design, development and launch of Iran’s National Remote-Sensing Satellite,” Mahmoud Vaezi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
“We are currently in talks with Roscosmos Corporation and the details of the project, including costs, are being discussed.”
Vaezi said the construction of remote-sensing satellites is highly time-consuming, adding that it cannot be compared to the smaller satellites that the country has built so far.
“The Russians are even willing to take charge of launching our small-sized satellites and will do so as soon as we make the request,” he said.
Iran and Russia signed an agreement to jointly construct a satellite during Vaezi’s recent visit to Moscow.
In June, the International Telecommunication Union reinstated Iran’s license on two orbital slots reserved for a national telecommunications satellite and a radio and television broadcasting satellite.
The ITU regulations do not allow a country to permanently keep an orbital slot. If countries do not intend to place a satellite in their orbital slot, the rights will be temporarily ceded to other countries.
According to Sputnik, Roscosmos General Director Igor Komarov in January confirmed negotiations were underway on launching a satellite for Iran.
“The Russian space agency was in talks with Tehran on the possible training of an Iranian astronaut for a space mission,” he said.
