The Kavoshgar (Explorer) is not a ballistic missile or satellite launcher. It is what is called a sounding rocket. It is fired straight up into the atmosphere. When it runs out of fuel, it plummets back again.
The first Kavoshgar was launched more than three years ago in February 2008. That was simply a test.
In November 2008, Kavoshgar-2 was launched. Officials showed off photos of the top stage of that rocket after it had been parachuted back to earth intact. Mohammed Ebrahimi, deputy chief of the Aerospace Research Institute, announced then later versions of the Kavoshgar would be designed to carry animals into space to pave the way for Iran to place men in orbit.
Kavoshgar-3 was launched February 3, 2010, carrying a rat, two turtles and some worms. Officials released pictures of the animals being loaded into the Kavoshgar. But no pictures were released after the launch and no information was given out on the condition of the animals, suggesting something had gone wrong and the Kavoshgar capsule had not landed safely.
Several weeks ago, the government released photos of a monkey strapped into a Kavoshgar capsule and said the plan was to launch him into space in the near future.
Kavoshgar-4 was launched March 15. It flew to an altitude of 120 kilometers (75 miles) and the capsule parachuted back to earth, officials said. They said there were no animals aboard, but that the capsule was designed to carry a Rhesus money. That step backward from the Kavoshgar-3 launch was a further indication that something went wrong with Kavoshgar-3, prompting space officials to do another test launch of the rocket itself.
In the past, rocket launches have been announced hours after they occurred. This time the government waited two days to announce the Kavoshgar-4 launch. And there were no photos of the capsule back on the ground, thus raising more questions about whether the launch went well or not.
An announcement said that data and imagery transmissions were conducted on the flight and that the space agency successfully tested the launch pad, engines, and the electronic, stage separation and payload retrieval systems.
The first Iranian-made satellite was put into orbit atop an Iranian-made rocket in February 2009. More than two years have now passed without any further satellite launch, although many news announcements have been made about plans for future satellite launches. That also raises questions about problems with Iran’s space program. The second Russian satellite was orbited four weeks after the first in 1957. The second American satellite was orbited six weeks after the first in 1958 (and is still in orbit).
The first living creature to be launched into space was the Russian dog Laika, who was fired into orbit more than a half-century ago in November 1957 aboard the second Soviet satellite. Information on her heart rate and other reactions to the launch were radioed back to earth. But there was no way to return her to earth and Laika died within hours.