- In February, the Iranian President unveiled a space capsule capable of carrying a monkey into space.
- The launch of a large animal into space is seen as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.
On June 15, the Saffir (Ambassador) rocket carried Iran's Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite into space, putting it in orbit 260 km (163 miles) above the Earth.
Al-Alam
Iran plans to send a live monkey into space in the summer, the country's top space official said after the launch of the Rassad-1 satellite, state television reported on its website on Thursday.
"The Kavoshgar-5 rocket will be launched during the month of Mordad (July 23 to August 23) with a 285 kg capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 120 kilometers (74 miles)," said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organization.
In February, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a space capsule designed to carry a live monkey into space, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch before March 2012.
At the time, Fazeli touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.
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Iran sent small animals into space -- a rat, turtles and worms -- aboard its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.
Fazeli also announced plans for the launch in October of the Fajr reconnaissance satellite with "a life span of a year and a half, and to be placed at an altitude of 400 kilometers," the website reported.
On Wednesday, the Islamic republic successfully put its Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite into orbit 260 kilometers above the Earth.
Rassad-1, which orbits the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and has a two-month life cycle, will be used to photograph the planet and transmit images, media reports said.
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Originally scheduled to launch in August 2010, the satellite was built by Malek Ashtar University in Tehran, which is linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program amid Western concerns.
Western powers fear that Iran's space agenda might be linked to developing a ballistic missile capability that could deliver nuclear warheads.
But Tehran has repeatedly denied that its contentious nuclear and scientific programs mask military ambitions.
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