According to Iranian official media, the government has launched a space tug capable of transferring satellites between orbits. The country's Space Research Center created the Saman test spacecraft, which was launched Monday by the Defense Ministry.
According to Hassan Salarieh, chief of the Islamic Republic's space agency, the primary tug will be used and tested in the near future. In 2017, Iran debuted the craft. A space tug is capable of moving a spacecraft from one orbit to another.
Iran has long sought a space program that it claims is for peaceful purposes. The country has both a civilian and military space program, which the United States believes will be utilized to further its ballistic missile program.
Tehran successfully launched a solid-fuel rocket into space in June, while a Russian rocket successfully launched an Iranian Khayyam satellite into orbit in August. It was named after Omar Khayyam, a Persian scientist from the 11th and 12th centuries. However, in recent years, Iran has seen a string of disasters and failed satellite launches.
In April 2020, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard successfully launched a spacecraft into orbit, revealing its own covert space program. In addition to Iran's conventional armed forces, the Guard maintains its own military infrastructure.