"As a means of supporting the private sector, the Iranian Space Research Center is planning to hold a public tender for the development, construction and launch into orbit of Research Satellite-1. [The satellite] will be used for research purposes in the field of space navigation," the Iranian government quoted the agency's statement as saying on Telegram.
In late August, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani said Tehran was actively engaged in satellite development and planned to conduct two or three launches this year. Before that, Amir Rastegari, the CEO of the defense ministry-affiliated Iran Electronics Industries, said that Iran would launch a homemade Earth observation satellite, called Tolou-3 (Dawn-3), by the end of the year.