Iran's future human space program
 

Norbert Brügge, Germany
 

 

TEHRAN, 2021, Jan.  -- Iran's space agency chief Morteza Barari said that the manned space capsule developed by ARI will be delivered to ISA by February 2021 and could be launched (suborbital flight) by June 2022.

TEHRAN,2018, Nov. -- The model of the Iranian sub-orbital spacecraft is again on display at the Kish air show. What's new, is the adapter to the launch vehicle, seen until now only in various illustrations..

TEHRAN, 2017, Sept. 10 -- Now, the head of the Aviation Research Centre at Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Fathollah Ommi, says Iran’s space programme is going on smoothly and efforts are underway to send a manned spaceship into space within the next eight years. The project is to be carried out in two suborbital and orbital phases” said Ommi, stressing that the project is in the study stage at the moment.
“We have had serious negotiations with Russian space centres and they are expected to give us their final reply,” he said.


TEHRAN, 2017, June 01 -- Iran's semi-official ILNA news agency said that the country had ended its project to explore the possibility of sending humans into space. The ILNA report quotes Mohammad Homayoun Sadr, deputy head of the space organization, as saying the cost of the project to be prohibitive.
 

TEHRAN, 2016, June 20 -- Iranian space scientists have concluded research on the conceptual design of a homegrown manned spacecraft together with its carrier rocket.
The Iranian Space Agency is working to meet a 2025 deadline for sending astronauts to space.
During the conceptual design phase, researchers designed and unveiled a mock-up of a spacecraft, designed for sub-orbital spaceflight.
Now that the conceptual design phase is over. The craft, which would weigh one ton, is designed to enter space in 9 main stages following the start of engines of the launch vehicle and return to earth safely.
The Iranian manned spacecraft is scheduled to reach an altitude of 175 kilometers before descent.


TEHRAN, 2015, Oct. 05 -- Head of Iran’s Aerospace Research Center Fathollah Ommi said that the project of sending human being to space had made progressed by 30 percent. If the necessary support is given to us we can put an astronaut in the sub-orbit in a year.

TEHRAN, 2014, June 06 -- Mansour Kabganian, Chief Director of Iran's national project for building a spaceship, said that Iran is working on plans to build a spacecraft to send more living creatures into lower orbits in future.
The spacecraft's dimensions are 1.5 meters and it weighs 100kg (meant is 1000kg). The spacecraft will be sent "to a low (sub)orbit" with a Kavoshgar rocket.

TEHRAN, 2014, May 19 -- Iran announced plans to launch another Kavoshgar rocket into space in the near future.
"A one-ton Kavoshgar will be sent to orbit at an altitude of 150 to 200 kilometers from the earth this year," Head of Iran’s Aerospace Research Institute Mohammad Ebrahimi, who also supervises Iran's project for sending man into space, said in an interview with the state-run Islamic republic news agency.
He said that the geometrical specifications of the Kavoshgar to be used in this launch will be similar to the previous ones, but the new Kavoshgar is cylindrospheric in form, that is a mixture of cylinder and sphere.
Ebrahimi explained that the rocket enjoys recovery and backup systems which make its launch more reliable and safe. He said once this Kavoshgar is sent to the orbit, the third step to send astronauts into suborbital space will be taken.

TEHRAN, 2014, May 04 -- The head of Iran’s Aerospace Research Institute has said the country will launch new generation of Kavoshgar rockets, jetting in a higher height comparing to the previous rockets.
Dr. Mohammad Ebrahimi told Mehr News that Iran’s Aerospace Research Institute has an orbital and suborbital project to send the living thing to the space; “first we will send the living thing to suborbital space and then with the advancement of the technology, it would be sent orbital space and beyond; our ultimate goal is sending the first man from Iran to the space,” he added.
Ebrahimi said that in current Iranian year the institute had plans to send the new generation of Kavoshgar to space and added that like the new Kavoshgar's, they are not cylindrical, but like world standard.
He held that to reach the capability to send a man to the space first we should send an object up to 150 to 200 km height suborbital space and then, “we should send this object to space to the orbit of 250 km around the earth, both plans need a carrier to provide the energy needed for the object’s movement.

TEHRAN, 2013, Dec. 24
-- Director of Iran Aerospace Systems Research Center Mohammad Ebrahimi noted that the country has so far launched eight carriers into space and the  last two had living creatures onboard.
He said more time will be needed to develop a more complex carrier capable of carrying human beings.
Ebrahimi further stated that Iran intends to take slow but scientific and logical steps in the field of aerospace, adding that Iranian scientists plan to cross the threshold of bio-space research in their next stride. He added that planning and conceptual designing for the ninth Iranian-developed carrier is already underway.

Quote: "The next step is to send a Kavoshgar to a height of 175 km with a payload of 500 kg" (or more)

 



 



Dimensions. Source ARI


      
Iran's one-man capsule


     
 



Capsule + adapter



Future capsule ? (left)

        
Thruster with stop/start capability