Iran's new satellite launch: Aerospace leap or Russia-backed mirage?
After nearly a decade of setbacks, Iran has launched its Nahid-2 satellite aboard a Russian rocket. Touted as a milestone in homegrown aerospace, the achievement also exposes Tehran's deepening — and increasingly uneasy — dependence on Moscow.
TEHRAN — Iran on Friday successfully launched its most advanced telecommunications satellite to date, Nahid-2, marking a pivotal moment in the country's quest for technological autonomy under sanctions.
The satellite was launched from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome. Part of a multi-payload mission, Nahid-2 is a 120-kilogram satellite that has joined 20 other spacecraft in low Earth orbit, according to details in a report by the Tasnim News Agency.
Built by Iran's Space Research Center in cooperation with the Iranian Space Agency, Nahid-2 is intended to serve civil and military communications needs, with officials emphasizing its "fully domestic" design, despite the foreign launch.
The project began in 2016 as a next-generation evolution of Nahid-1, with a focus on high-bandwidth communications, orbital maneuverability and longer operational life.
