Iran successfully launches new military satellite into orbit, says state media

Iran's Revolutionary Guards carried out a successful launch of a third military satellite on Wednesday (September 27), country's state media repoted citing Minister of Communications Issa Zarepour.

The state media report said that Noor 3 imaging satellite was orbiting at an altitude of 450 kilometres (280 miles) above Earth's surface. It was launched using three-stage Qased or messenger carrier. The satellite's predecessor Noor 2 was launched in 2022 in the same manner.

The US military has said that the long-range ballistic technology used by Iran to launch satellites may also enable it to launch long-range weapons, possibly even nuclear warheads.

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Iran denies the US assertion that activities like satellite launch is a cover for development of ballistic missiles and maintains that it has never pursued development of nuclear weapons.

Iran has one of the biggest missile programmes in West Asia. The country has suffered several failed attempts to launch satellites due to technical issues.

US slapped fresh Iran-related sanctions on September 19. The sanctions targetted multiple people and also entities in Iran, Russia, China and Turkey over connections with Iran's drone and military aircraft development.

It had previously imposed sanctions on Iran's civilian space agency and two research organisations in 2019, saying they were being used to advance Tehran's ballistic missile program.

(With inputs from agencies)

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