Iran Joins Space Race
Iran has become the 9th member of the the elite group of nations capable of launching satellites into space. The other eight members of this exclusive club are Russia, United States, France, Japan, China, United Kingdom, India and Israel. The satellite, named Omid (Hope), carried on a two-stage Safir-2 rocket, was meant for telecommunication and research purposes, Iranian state TV said. Iran's entry in space marks the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. According to Iran's state television , "The Omid national satellite is a light satellite. This satellite has been put into the orbit to set up a two-way communication with the land station, to determine the orbit specifications, telemetry, and the specifications of subsystems". John Pike, an expert at the US-based think-tank GlobalSecurity.org, confirmed to the BBC that the launch had been a success and the satellite was now established in a low Earth orbit. At that altitude it is likely to remain in...