TEHRAN: Iran says it has sent a research satellite into orbit with a rocket built by the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
A Saturday report by the official IRNA said that the Chamran-1 satellite has a weight of 60 kilograms and it successfully reached a 550-kilometre orbit in space.
It said testing space hardware and software is the main mission of the satellite.
IRNA said land stations received signals from the satellite too. It said satellite-carrier rocket Ghaem-100, using solid fuel, was designed, and made by the Guard aerospace division.
Though Iran has long planned to send satellites into orbit, this is the first launch under reformist President Masoud Pezezhkian after his hardline predecessor Ebrahim Raisi died in a May helicopter crash.