Iran isn't a country with
a high profile in space
tourism – but that
could soon change. On
Wednesday, the Iran
Space Agency (ISA)
announced its intention
to launch a live Rhesus
monkey into space. But
can it bring the animal
back?
A previous attempt to
launch a craft carrying
a monkey failed last
October, stalling Iran's
space ambitions. Now
the mission is back on
track, with a launch
planned for mid-August,
after the Islamic month
of Ramadan endsd.
It is not the first time
Iran has shown interest
in launching animals into
orbit. In 2010, the ISA's
Kavoshgar-3 rocket
carried worms, a
mouse and two turtles
as passengers. More
significantly, the
animals were
reportedly safely
returned to Earth
.
It would be a major
advance in Iran's space
programme if the
country is able to
successfully return a
monkey to Earth. "This
would show its
capability to return
scientific payloads
from orbit," says
Bhupendra Jasani of
King's College London,
who studies the
military use of space.
"However, to launch a
human may take some
time."
Iranian forays into
space exploration have
surprised international
onlookers due to their
speed and secrecy. Iran
has launched three
domestically made
satellites
in as many years, and a
fourth is to be launched
in the next few months.
Iran is the ninth
country to put
domestically built
satellites into orbit, and
the sixth to send
animals into space.
Military milestone?
Some countries are
wary of an Iranian
space presence
, concerned that the
technology used to
carry satellites,
animals and potentially
humans into space
could also be used to
transport weaponry. A
successful round-trip
for the monkey could
have "worrying
implications", says
Jasani. "This launch
would be a major
milestone in a military
sense. Iran, like many
other spacefaring
nations, is developing a
space programme not
only for the sake of
prestige but also for
national security
reasons."
Iran has repeatedly
denied that there are
any military intentions
behind their space
programme, instead
stating reasons
including earthquake
monitoring, imaging and
improvement of
telecommunications.
Their space
programme remains
ambitious, with the aim
of launching a human
into space by 2020, and
landing an astronaut on
the moon by 2025.
Brian Weeden of the
Secure World
Foundation, which
promotes ideas about
the use of outer space,
says it is interesting to
compare Iran's space
programme with that
of North Korea. "The
world community
hasn't tried to stop
Iran's rocket program
like they have North
Korea's because overall
Iran is doing things that
demonstrate it is
serious about having a
space programme.
Although North Korea
says they have a space
programme, their
actions lead many to
conclude that it's really
just a way to legitimise
their development of
ballistic missile
technology."
Weeden says Iran's
motivation is more
likely to be to improve
its national image
rather than develop
military capability in
space.
"I think prestige is the
most likely because it's
the main reason why
most countries pursue
human spaceflight. You
can demonstrate your
country's technical and
scientific prowess with
robotic satellites, but
those are hard to show
off because they stay
in space. A living,
breathing organism is
much easier for the
public to identify with
and, if you can bring it
back down safely,
much easier to
publicise."
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