Iran Preparing Space Launch Soon? Satellite Images Show Ongoing Work Amid Tattered Nuclear Deal With World Powers

Iran's nuclear deal with world powers is still ongoing in Vienna, but recent satellite images have shown that the country is preparing for a space launch at Imam Khomeini Spaceport. The Associated Press reported that Iranian state media had offered a list of upcoming planned satellite launches that are in the works after a series of failed launches.

The satellite images came from Planet Labs Inc. that was taken on Saturday, December 11, and obtained by AP to show the activity at the spaceport in the desert plains of Semnan province, which is 149 miles (240 kilometers) away from Tehran.

(Photo: Getty Images)
A picture obtained on December 14, 2013, from Iran's ISNA news agency, allegedly shows the launch of the Pajohesh (research) rocket containing a live space monkey named Fargam (Auspicious) at an undisclosed location in Iran. Iran said that it had safely returned a monkey to Earth after blasting it into space in the second such launch this year in its controversial ballistic program. AFP PHOTO / ISNA NEWS AGENCY / STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran Denies Activity at Spaceport

The Hill reported that the satellite images showed a support vehicle and hydraulic crane at the site, which appeared to have also been present in previous launches. Also, the images showed an uptick in cars at the location that even fuels the assumption that Iran may have been preparing for a space launch.

An expert to the matter, Jeffrey Lewis, from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said in an interview that the images showed a fairly traditional pre-launch activity.

Earlier this month, Iran's state-run ISNA news agency reported that one out of four satellites, the low-orbit imaging satellite Zafar 2, that the country's space program was preparing to launch is already at its final stages of preparation.

However, AP reported that ISNA did not acknowledge the activity in the spaceport, and delegates to the United Nations refused to answer or give a comment. Likewise, the US military that tracks space launches also did not provide any comments about the matter.

Meanwhile, the UK warned on Sunday, December 12, that Iran's chances of rejoining the nuclear agreement are running out. Iran's space efforts come at a delicate time as they are still negotiating a nuclear deal with world powers. Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that this would be Iran's last chance, and after that, they would not allow the country to acquire a nuclear weapon.

ALSO READ: NASA Launches IXPE Mission Atop SpaceX Falcon 9; X-Ray Initiative to Study Exploding Stars and More

Iran's Space Program Faced Setbacks in the Past Years

In February 2020, Iran launched its $2.3 million-worth satellite Zafar 1, but it failed to enter orbit, the Times of Israel reported. The satellite was aboard the rocket Simorgh (Phoenix), but it could not put the satellite in orbit at the correct speed.

But it was not the first time that Iran's civilian space program has seen a series of setbacks and fatal explosions. One of which is the blast in 2019 that caught former US President Donald Trump's attention.

Furthermore, the past decade has shown Iran's short-lived satellites in orbit. In 2013, they claimed to have launched a monkey into space. Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi said during the meeting of the Supreme Council of Space that this mission showed the determination of the government to develop the country's space industry.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, revealed in April 2020 its secret space program that successfully launched a satellite into orbit. But the US Space Command only regards it as a "tumbling webcam in space" that would not give Iran vital intelligence.