Iranian Satellite Ready for Launch

A satellite built by Iran’s University of Science and Technology has been delivered to Iranian Space Agency and is ready for takeoff.

Mohammad Ali Barkhordari, the university’s rector, announced the delivery and said, “The Tadbir satellite is ready for launch, but the date is yet to be determined.”

Barkhordari noted that the first satellite built by IUST, Navid, and launched in 2012 remains in orbit.

“Tadbir is an updated version of Navid with several significant technical changes made in the platform,” he said.

The university and the space agency have devised other satellite projects in recent months and a team of 80 technicians is currently working on the university’s space project.

Barkhordari also said tight budgets pose the biggest obstacle to expansion of the project, but regardless of this obstacle, Iran has been able to grow significantly in this sector.

“The national space project’s growth has been so significant that when a South Korean delegation visited the project site at the university, they were stunned by IUST’s progress in the field,” he said.

Tadbir will orbit the Earth at an altitude of between 160 km and 2,000 km, commonly known as Low Earth Orbit.

According to the latest rankings released by Thomson Reuters, IUST is listed among the top 100 Asian universities along with Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology and Isfahan’s University of Technology.