Tehran, Feb 3, IRNA – The US space agency NASA has admitted successful sending of national Omid (Hope) Satellite into the orbit on Tuesday.
Geoffrey Forden, research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology writes, “In the face of world opposition and sanctions, Iran has joined a very exclusive club: those countries that have managed to orbit a satellite.”
Based on data released by NASA and reports from amateur observers, Forden wrote on armscontrolwonk.com that it appeared the satellite was successfully sent into a relatively low orbit.
But it remained unclear if Iran had used a three-stage rocket with technology associated with Soviet-era Scud missiles, or had made a “quantum leap” with a much more powerful two-stage rocket, he said.
“If it was a two-stage missile then they had a huge jump in technology and that would be very scary,” Forden added.
The sophisticated two-stage rocket “would certainly advance the possibility of an ICBM much more than we’ve been thinking about until now.”
He said there were indications from amateur observers of the launch that the Iranians had used a two-stage rocket, but it was too soon to reach any conclusions.