The Russian space agency announced that it had put 55 satellites into orbit overnight from Monday to Tuesday, including two private Iranian satellites, an operation which takes place in a context of strengthening ties between Moscow and Tehran.
A Soyuz rocket carrying “two Ionosfera-M helio-geophysical satellites and 53 associated small Russian and foreign satellites” took off at 2:18 a.m. Moscow time (12:18 a.m.) from the Vostochny cosmodrome, in the Russian Far East, specifies the press release from Roscosmos. This “record simultaneous launch” took place “successfully”, for 51 Russian aircraft, “two small Iranian satellites”, one Russian-Chinese and one Russian-Zimbabwean, the agency said.
The Iranian satellites are two private devices, Kowsar and Hodhod, according to the Iranian embassy in Moscow which welcomed, the day before the launch, “a first firm and decisive step (…) towards the entry of the private sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the space domain. According to the website of their manufacturer, the Omidfaza company, the two satellites will be used in the agriculture, transport, environment and cartography sectors.
Several satellites have been launched by Soyuz on behalf of the Iranian state over the past year, but this is the first time that such a launch has been organized for the Iranian private sector.
Iran says its aerospace activities are peaceful and in line with a UN Security Council resolution. But Western governments fear they will use technologies interchangeable with those used in ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
During the recent Brics summit, a club of nine so-called emerging countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart, Massoud Pezeshkian, and welcomed “growing” and “truly friendly” bilateral relations. He added that he wanted to “strengthen the emerging positive dynamic with regard to commercial and economic cooperation”.
Since the large-scale offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has strengthened its ties with Iran, which has been accused of supplying it with weapons in its conflict against kyiv.
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