A satellite rocket exploded at an Iranian space center.
A rocket at a space center in Iran that was supposed to launch a satellite has exploded on the launch pad, according to satellite images. This is the third time in a year that the Islamic Republic has failed in this regard.
The explosion of a satellite rocket that exploded on the launch pad on Thursday, August 29 (September 7), was 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 seems that this is the third time in just a year that the Islamic Republic has attempted to launch a satellite but its attempt has failed.
Iranian media and government officials 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 rising above the launch pad and the charred remains of a rocket visible at the launch site.
In recent days, satellite images showed officials painting the launch pad blue, but by Thursday morning, half of it had burned and faded.
"Whatever happened there has exploded, and you're looking at the remains of what was once there," said David Schmerler, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies.
Schmerler told the Associated Press that images from the space center show that the rocket either exploded during launch or fell back onto the platform shortly after liftoff. It appears that an attempt was then made to put out the fire with water.
American radio station NPR first reported that satellite images showed an unsuccessful missile launch at a space center 240 kilometers southeast of Tehran.
In July of this year, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, told the Associated Press that Tehran plans to launch three more missiles this year, two of which are for reconnaissance and intelligence satellites and the other for communications.
Source: DW
