Iran's IRGC successfully launches Nour 3 Military Imaging Satellite into Orbit

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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) successfully launched its third military imaging satellite, Nour 3, from Iran's Shahroud Spaceport.

An Overview of the News

• The satellite was sent into orbit using a three-stage cassette carrier, which was developed by the IRGC.

• In Persian,"nour" (or "noor") translates to "light", while "Qased" means "messenger".

• Noor 3 was placed in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 450 km (280 mi) above the Earth's surface.

• The primary purpose of the Nour-3 satellite is to collect data and images for intelligence purposes by the IRGC.

Previous versions of the Noor satellite include:

• Nour 1 - It was the first military reconnaissance satellite launched by Iran in April 2020. It orbited at an altitude of 425 km (265 mi) above the Earth.

• Nour 2 - It launched in March 2022, and operated in a low orbit at an altitude of 500 km (310 mi).

Other satellites of Iran

• In August 2022, Iran's high-resolution, remote-sensing Khayyam satellite was launched using Russia's Soyuz-2.1B rocket. The launch took place from the Russian-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

About Iran

• President - Ibrahim Raisi

• Capital - Tehran

• Currency - Iranian Rial