July 22, 2016
Iran’s Space Agency has issued yet another schedule for planned satellite launches, and it is different from all previous schedules—as have been all previous schedules.
Mohsen Bahrami, who became chief of the agency last year, said last week that two satellites would be launched before Now Ruz. One is the Doosti (Friendship). In March, Bahrami named that as the only satellite to be launched in this Persian year.
But last week, he said one other satellite—either the Nahid (Venus) or the AT Sat, long ago designed by Amir Kabir University, would definitely be launched during this year.
Bahrami’s predecessor, Hamid Fazeli, had announced plans to launch those two satellites in 2013, then in 2014 and then in 2015.
Sketchy reports indicate that President Rohani sought to limit the space program, apparently to save government funds for higher priorities, but was overruled by the Supreme Leader.
