AA
22 April 2020•Update: 23 April 2020
ANKARA
Iran successfully launched on Wednesday the country’s first military satellite, Noor 1, into space, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
The IRGC, in a statement, said that the satellite had reached its orbit, 425 kilometers above the earth's surface.
The two-stage satellite carrier that carried Noor 1 took off from Iran’s Central Desert, the communique added.
The IRGC considers the launch a "major achievement" for Iran's missile capabilities.
Over the past years, the Gulf country tried sending satellites to space but failed. The last experiment was in February when it launched a communication satellite named Zafar 1, which didn't achieve the required speed to reach its orbit.
*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara
