Estava prestes a desligar o computador e chegou-me esta notícia: Os iranianos acabaram de colocar um satélite de testes no espaço!!!!!! Vocês sabem o que isso significa? Que a partir deste momento eles têm misseis com um grande alcance, enorme!
Isto não vem mesmo a jeito para os Russos dado que eles estavam a queixar-se que o sistema de misseis interceptores a ser instalado na Polónia (e Ucrânia?) era apenas destinado a eles!
~Iran puts test satellite in orbit despite multiple sanctions
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Monday, August 18, 2008
TEHRAN: Iran said it had launched a rocket carrying a test-satellite into space on Sunday, in a move that could further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive. “The Safir [Ambassador] rocket was successfully launched. All its systems … are Iranian made,” Reza Taghipour, head of Iran’s space agency, told state television, adding that a “test satellite was put into orbit.”
“We have paved the way for placing a satellite in space in the future,” state television said, showing images of the dawn rocket launch.
Some Western governments, which suspect Iran is trying to build an atomic weapon, have voiced concern that the Islamic Republic’s space program could be put to military use.
A top Iranian official told AFP that earlier reports by state media that the country’s first domestically built communications satellite, called Omid or Hope, had been launched were not correct.
A Defense Ministry statement carried by the official news agency IRNA said the rocket, “built by Iranian experts” was launched in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“The second launch of the Safir rocket carrying the first satellite Omid was conducted successfully,” it said.
But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “The Iranian media is mistaken. It was the launch of a rocket capable of carrying a satellite. The Omid satellite was not launched itself.”
Sunday’s development comes amid a standoff between Iran and world powers over Tehran’s long-standing refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment work, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb if refined further. As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Tehran has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear program, including making use of uranium enrichment.
“The achievement has drawn much attention from around the world, especially from among Muslim nations, as Iran is under sanctions by the West and the Security Council, making it develop the technology and build all parts and equipment needed in the field of aerospace,” the Fars news agency said.
In February, Iran said it had sent a probe into space on the back of a rocket on a mission to prepare for a satellite launch, a move Ahmadinejad lauded as a national success. It was condemned by the US and Russia had also voiced concern.
At the time, Mohsen Mir Shams, the deputy head of Iran’s space organization, said the satellite would be put into orbit at a altitude of 650 kilometers above the earth, passing over Iran six times every 24 hours.
Iran has pursued a space program for years, and in October 2005 a Russian-made Iranian satellite named Sina-1 was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.
“This satellite, the rocket and the launch station are entirely Iranian-built, achieved by particularly talented scientists and technicians,” Ahmadinejad told reporters during a trip to Turkey last week, IRNA reported.
Ahmadinejad has made Iran’s scientific development one of the main themes of his presidency, asserting that the country has reached a peak of progress despite sanctions and no longer needs to depend on foreign states for help.
The armed forces said Sunday’s launch coincided with the anniversary of the birth of the eight century Imam Mehdi, who vanished as a boy and whom Shiites believe will return one day as the messiah.
Iran’s Arabic-language state television broadcast footage of the rocket heading into space from the launch station in the remote desert of western Iran, and graphics showing a satellite separating from a rocket.
Separately on Sunday, Iran’s air force commander said Iran upgraded its fighter jets to allow them to fly 3,000 kilometers without refueling. “We have succeeded in upgrading the capabilities of our planes and have increased the range of these planes to 3,000 kilometers without refuelling,” Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
“We do not wish to attack another country … but we will defend ourselves should we be attacked,” he added. – AFP
