Iran preparing for rocket launch, satellite images suggest amid nuclear tensions
- Satellite images from US company show rocket preparing to be erected at launch pad
- Negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers stalled since March
Iran appeared to be readying for a space launch as satellite images showed a rocket on a rural desert launch pad, just as tensions remain high over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The images from US firm Maxar Technologies on Tuesday showed a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s rural Semnan province, the site of frequent recent failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit.
One set of images showed a rocket on a transporter, preparing to be lifted and put on a launch tower. A later image on Tuesday afternoon showed the rocket apparently on the tower.
Iran did not acknowledge a forthcoming launch at the space port and its mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, its state-run IRNA news agency in May said that Iran would probably have seven home-made satellites ready for launch by the end of the Persian calendar year in March 2023. A Defence Ministry official also recently suggested Iran soon could test its new solid-fuelled, satellite-carrying rocket called the Zuljanah.
It was not clear when the launch would take place, though erecting a rocket typically means a launch is imminent.