Saturday, August 17, 2024

Tehran - Launching Spy Satellites ?
With a little Help from their Friends

Some days ago, on August 15, an official Iranian X-account announced that Iran is going to launch their brandnew SAMAN rocket system, intended to transport space payloads between Earth orbits.

Saman is capable of transporting light satellites from an orbit of 300 km to an orbit of 5,000 km. Iran is said having successfully conducted its first launching test of that system on October 3, 2020.


The rocket system 'Saman' [سامان] seems to have been named after
an ancient Iranian nomadic people in the Central Asian region of
Khorasan and Bukhara and who had founded the Samanid dynasty
[الدولة السامانية], such getting independent from the Abassid kingdom.
The Samanids are seen today as the founders of Persian identity,
speech and culture after 900 AC. During the rule of the Samanides,
the 'Holy Quran' was expanded to Central Asia.


An earlier Chinese evaluation from January 30 this year, already discussed the test launch of another system when Iran's carrier rocket PHOENIX successfully positioned three satellites in orbit, a system the Chinese named 'One Arrow and Three Stars' in their own pictorial language.

By the way, the Chinese source appeared to be unusually well informed on this matter, giving a comprising overview on Iran's satellite program, however, without mentioning neither name nor location of the launching site.


伊朗首次成功发射“一箭三星”,可增强军事航天能力?

伊朗航天技术发展获得重大突破,首次成功进行“一箭三星”发射。

据新华社1月28日报道,伊朗28日首次使用“凤凰”号运载火箭成功发射三颗卫星。报道说,“凤凰”号运载火箭当天将“马赫达”、“帕亚姆”和“哈提夫”三颗卫星送入距地表约1110千米的轨道。

Iran's first successful launch of "One Arrow and Three Stars"
can it enhance military space capabilities?


Iran has made a major breakthrough in the development of space technology, and successfully launched "one arrow and three stars" for the first time.

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency on January 28, Iran successfully launched three satellites for the first time using the "Phoenix" carrier rocket on January 28.According to the report, on the same day, the "Phoenix" carrier rocket launched three satellites, "Maheda," "Payam," and "Khatif," into orbits about 1,110 kilometers above the earth's surface.

一些西方国家声称伊朗的卫星项目可能用于发展弹道导弹。美国最近的一项情报评估表明,发射卫星“缩短了”伊朗研制洲际弹道导弹的时间。但伊朗多次否认这种猜测,说卫星项目属于科研范畴。

Some Western countries claim that Iran's satellite program could be used to develop ballistic missiles.A recent United States intelligence assessment suggests that the launch of the satellite "shortened" Iran's time to develop an ICBM.But Iran has repeatedly denied such speculation, saying that the satellite project falls under the category of scientific research.


[澎湃新闻, 'Upcoming News' on January 30, 2024]

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في صفقة محتملة
إيران تبحث عن مساعدة الصين لزيادة دقة مراقبتها للأهداف العسكرية في الشرق الأوسط


ذكرت صحيفة "واشنطن بوست" نقلا عن مسؤولين أمنيين غربيين، أن إيران طلبت من الصين دعمها في مجال الأقمار الصناعية بهدف تعزيز قدراتها في المراقبة عن بعد وجمع المعلومات الاستخباراتية، بما في ذلك إمكانية الحصول على صور عالية الدقة لأهداف عسكرية في إسرائيل ومناطق أخرى في الشرق الأوسط.


In a possible deal:
Iran looking for China's help to increase the accuracy
of surveillance of military targets in the Middle East.


The Washington Post, citing Western security officials, reported that Iran asked China for its satellite support to enhance its remote surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities, including access to high-resolution imagery of military targets in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.

وقد شهدت الفترة الأخيرة بحسب مسؤولين غربيين وشرق أوسطيين، تبادل الوفود بين الحرس الثوري الإيراني والشركات الصينية المعنية، والتي تختص في تصنيع وتشغيل أقمار صناعية مزودة بكاميرات متطورة.

وقال المسؤولون، الذين طلبوا عدم الكشف عن هويتهم لمناقشة معلومات استخباراتية حساسة، إن "سعي إيران للتعاون مع الشركتين يتم مراقبته عن كثب بسبب المخاوف من أن أي اتفاق قد يعزز بشكل كبير قدرة إيران على التجسس على المنشآت العسكرية الأميركية والإسرائيلية، بالإضافة إلى المنشآت العسكرية للدول العربية المنافسة في الخليج الفارسي".

وتقدم الشركات الصينية المعنية أقمارا صناعية مزودة بأجهزة بصرية حساسة تفوق في دقتها أقمار إيران الحالية.

وتأتي هذه الزيارات في سياق العلاقات الوثيقة بين بكين وطهران، والتي تعززت بعد توقيع اتفاقية التعاون السياسي والاقتصادي الممتدة لـ 25 عاما بين وزيري خارجية البلدين قبل ثلاث سنوات.

وسعت إيران سابقا للحصول على مساعدة من روسيا لتطوير شبكة من أقمار المراقبة التي تسيطر عليها طهران، وقد توسعت هذه المساعدة مع اعتماد روسيا على إيران كمورد للطائرات المسيرة الهجومية المستخدمة في حربها ضد أوكرانيا.


According to Western and Middle Eastern officials, delegations exchanged delegations between the IRGC and relevant Chinese companies, which specialize in manufacturing and operating satellites equipped with advanced cameras.

The officials, who asked not to be identified to discuss sensitive intelligence, said Iran's quest to cooperate with the two companies is being closely monitored because of concerns that any agreement could significantly enhance the Iran's ability to spy on U.S. and Israeli military facilities, as well as military facilities of rival Arabic countries in the Persian Gulf.

The Chinese companies involved offer satellites with sensitive optical equipment that are more accurate than those of the current Iran.

The visits come in the context of the close relations between Beijing and Tehran, which were strengthened after the signing of the 25-year political and economic cooperation agreement between the foreign ministers of the two countries three years ago.

Iran has previously sought help from Russia to develop a network of Tehran-controlled surveillance satellites, and this assistance has expanded as the Russia relied on Iran as a supplier of attack drones used in its war against the Ukraine.


[يورونيوز on August 17]

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