(Al Jazeera Media Network) Iran has sent a capsule carrying animals into space as it boosts its western-contested space program in preparation for human missions.
State media on Wednesday released a clip of the launch of an Iranian-made rocket carrying the capsule, which they said was successfully sent 130 km into orbit.
The Salman rocket carried an “all indigenous” capsule weighing 500 kg, which is reportedly the heaviest biological capsule ever successfully carried in the history of the Iranian space program.
Neither state media nor Telecommunications Minister Isa Zarepour, who confirmed the news, said what kind of animals were in the capsule.
The capsule was ordered by the Iranian Space Agency and developed by the aerospace division of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. The rocket was built by the aerospace wing of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics.
