A Satellite Rocket Exploded at an Iranian Space Center
According to satellite images, a rocket at an Iranian space center that was supposed to launch a satellite has exploded on its launch pad. This is the third time in a year that the Islamic Republic’s efforts in this field have failed.
The explosion of the satellite rocket that occurred on Thursday, August 29 (September 7) on the launch pad has been announced based on satellite images. According to the Associated Press, the launch of this satellite rocket has always been criticized by the United States. It appears that this is the third time in just one year that the Islamic Republic has intended to launch a satellite but its efforts have failed.
Media and government officials in Iran did not immediately confirm the explosion at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Semnan. However, satellite images from the American company “Planet Labs Inc” showed a cloud of black smoke above the launch pad, and charred remains of a rocket were also visible at the launch site.
In recent days, satellite images showed that officials were painting the launch pad blue. But on Thursday morning, half of that color had burned away and faded.
David Schmerler, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said about this: “Whatever happened there, it exploded and you are looking at the remains of what was once there.”
Schmerler told the Associated Press that images of the space center show that the rocket either exploded during launch or shortly after lifting off the pad fell back onto the pad. It appears that attempts were then made to extinguish the fire with water.
American radio NPR first reported that satellite images indicated an unsuccessful rocket launch at a space center located 240 kilometers southeast of Tehran.
In June of this year, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, told the Associated Press that Tehran intends to launch three more rockets this year, two of which are for research and reconnaissance satellites and another for communications.
Source: DW
