WANA ( Sep 02) – The acting head of the Iranian Space Research Center has announced progress on several major national space projects, including the development of the Nahid-3 and Nahid-2.5 communications satellites and the launch of the first phase of the Raz national remote-sensing hub.

 

According to the official, Nahid-3 is being developed for deployment in geostationary orbit (GEO), while Nahid-2.5, equipped with an advanced constellation-building capability, is being developed as part of Iran’s next generation of communications satellites.

 

At the same time, the first phase of the Raz national remote-sensing hub — short for “Earth Information Observation” — has become operational. The platform is designed to aggregate remote-sensing data, share information through APIs, and provide specialized services to industries and universities. It has been deployed on the government cloud, while further phases are currently under development.

 

The Iranian Space Research Center is also working on the construction of the second model of the Saman orbital transfer vehicle and the development of new transfer modules. The projects are being pursued according to a phased plan aimed at meeting technical standards and preparing the systems for launch and final operational deployment as quickly as possible.

 

Meanwhile, Hossein Salariyeh, head of the Iranian Space Agency, has said that several satellites are being prepared for launch this year. According to him, Pars-2 is among the satellites on the launch schedule, while the Pars-3 satellite is also being pursued by the Iranian Space Research Center. Nahid-3, a communications satellite, is also included in the program.

 

Salariyeh also highlighted the role of satellite data in the national GNAF project, a major initiative led by Iran’s National Post Company in cooperation with various government agencies to update and align addresses and postal codes. According to the head of the Iranian Space Agency, satellite imagery plays a key role in updating maps, and the agency and the Iranian Space Research Center are using imagery from the Khayyam satellite for the project.

 

Taken together, these projects indicate that Iran’s space program is moving beyond the development of remote-sensing satellites toward expanding its capabilities in communications satellites, satellite constellations, data-driven services and orbital transfer technology.