Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Space Division said the IRGC has plans to launch satellites into a geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) 36,000 kilometers above the Earth.
In an interview with an Iranian online magazine, Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi highlighted the IRGC’s success to launch the homegrown Noor satellite into space in April, saying plans have been formulated to reach higher orbits.
He said the IRGC is going to launch satellites into the geostationary orbit which is 36,000 km above the Earth in the coming years.
The GEO is very significant and strategic, since the telecommunication and television satellites are placed in this orbit, he noted.
The commander said launching an Iranian satellite into the geosynchronous equatorial orbit has economic benefits for the country and would also protect Iran’s space assets.
When a communication satellite is placed in a geostationary orbit, the Earth-based antennas do not have to rotate to track it, but can be pointed permanently at the position in the sky where the satellite is located.
The IRGC successfully put Noor (light) into orbit on April 22. The homegrown satellite was launched with a three-stage satellite carrier, dubbed Qassed (messenger), from a launchpad in Dasht-e Kavir, a large desert in central Iran.
The satellite has been placed into an orbit 425 kilometers above the Earth.
