The head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari has announced that Iran plans to launch three satellites in the near future.
"Following the implementation of the country's second decade-long space development program, three satellites are being developed to be ultimately put into orbit," Barari, who is also Iran's Deputy Minister of Communication and Information Technology, said on Sunday.
According to the senior official, the newly emerging space technology field has grown by 139 percent in 10 years, leading to "major" developments in the country's economy.
Mr. Barari noted that the development of space technology field can help increase efficiency in managing Iran's environmental and agricultural sectors.
Iran has been working on the development of space rockets and satellites for over a decade, launching its first home-grown satellite into orbit in 2009, and successfully launching a biological payload into orbit in 2011.
In late 2013, Iran launched a monkey into orbit, retrieving it after a 15-minute flight. Another satellite was launched in 2015. Iran’s Space Agency has made these advances despite having an extremely modest budget, which reportedly amounted to the equivalent of just $4.6 million during the 2017 fiscal year.
Earlier this year, Iran attempted to send three satellites into orbit but all the launches failed.