Russian rocket takes Iranian satellites into orbit as ties grow closer

The Iranian-made satellites, Kowsar and Hodhod, were successfully placed into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-2.1 spacecraft.

A Russian rocket carrying a payload of satellites into orbit – including two from Iran – blasted off successfully, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said, in a move seen as reflecting the growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

The Soyuz-2.1 spacecraft lifted off as scheduled from the Vostochny Cosmodrome launchpad in far eastern Russia and put its payload into a designated orbit nine minutes after the launch on Tuesday.

Roscosmos said that two Russian Ionosfera-M satellites – designed to monitor the space weather around Earth – and 53 small satellites, including two from Iran, were placed into orbit successfully.

Among the 53 small satellites, the two Iranian satellites were identified as the Kowsar, a high-resolution imaging satellite, and Hodhod, a small communications satellite. A Russian-Chinese student satellite, Druzhba ATURK, was also placed into orbit.

The Iranian satellites are the first launched on behalf of the country’s private sector, with the Kowsar manufactured by the Omidfaza company, which began designing the satellite in 2019, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

The Kowsar has an expected lifespan of three years and the Hodhod should operate for four years, according to the IRNA.

Iran’s Kowsar, Hodhod satellites successfully launchedhttps://t.co/O7635DwpTy pic.twitter.com/OQki7GrrUD

— IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) November 5, 2024

In 2022, a Russian rocket launched an Iranian Earth observation satellite called Khayyam, which was built in Russia at Tehran’s request. Russia put another Iranian satellite named Pars-1 into orbit in February.

The Pars-1 is a research satellite that will scan Iran’s topography from orbit, Iran’s state media reported at the time.

The latest satellite launch comes as Russia and Iran expand ties in various spheres, and amid mounting criticism from Ukraine and the West that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones for use in attacks on Ukrainian targets.

Moscow and Tehran are also planning to further bolster their ties with a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, set to be signed during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s planned visit to Russia, the date for which has yet to be confirmed.

Russia’s satellite launches follow a series of failed launches suffered by Iran’s civilian space programme in recent years, including five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh programme, a satellite-carrying rocket.

A separate Iranian space programme run by the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps has seen successful launches from a military base outside of Shahroud, located east of the capital, Tehran.

Satellite images analysed by The Associated Press show that Israel may have bombed the site during its October 26 attack on Iran.

Iran said at the time that the Israeli attack had caused minimal damage.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies