On April 21, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have successfully launched the country’s first military satellite into orbit. According to an IRGC statement, a three-stage rocket called the “Qased” carried the “Noor” satellite to an altitude of 425 km. The launch appears to have taken place at an IRGC base near Shahroud, located about...
On February 9, Iran unsuccessfully launched a Simorgh rocket carrying a “Zafar 1” communications satellite. According to Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini, “Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed...
On February 5, Iran attempted to launch a satellite from the Imam Khomeini Space Center in Semnan province, ultimately failing to put it into orbit, according to new satellite imagery. The imagery showed a rocket on the launch pad of the space center on February 5, but imagery taken February 6 showed the launch pad...
Hit-to-kill ballistic missile defense is the ultimate precision guidance challenge. Many elements of a defense must come together to achieve a long range intercept. One of the most important and difficult parts is known as mid-course discrimination. Watch the Video After a ballistic missile launches, its engines burn hot and can be detected by infrared...
