Iranian Space program

HGV · Aug 2, 2023

Raisi - and various other officials - talked a lot about reinvigorating Iran's space program, and having much more frequent space launches.

When was Iran's last space launch?

Qaem-100 (IRGC): Nov 2022
Zoljanah: June 2022
Simorgh: Dec 2021

No launches at all for more than 8 months, and no civilian launches for more than a year. Raisi (and Iranian officials) are all talk, no action.

glablo · Aug 2, 2023

Japan, which has a much larger economy and a long history of space development, has not succeeded in launching even once since November 9, 2021.
The reality is that Russia, the United States, and China are three exceptional countries, and the path to space is still open only to a handful of major powers.
Technological innovation advances, and no matter how much current emerging nations appear to be on par with the great powers of the Cold War in terms of GDP figures, it has nothing to do with true national power.

HGV · Aug 2, 2023

glablo said:
Japan, which has a much larger economy and a long history of space development, has not succeeded in launching even once since November 9, 2021.

Wrong.

26 January 2023:

Japan begins busy year with classified IGS-Radar 7 launch - NASASpaceFlight.com

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Industries have conducted the nation’s first orbital…

www.nasaspaceflight.com

And they have another launch planned for 25 August 2023 (a lunar launch). The comparison is ridiculous for many reasons, mainly that they are launching $90m missions with 15,000kg LEO payload to the moon, and Iran is trying to launch $1-3m missions with 80-100kg payloads into LEO.

jauk · Aug 3, 2023

glablo said:
Japan, which has a much larger economy and a long history of space development, has not succeeded in launching even once since November 9, 2021.
The reality is that Russia, the United States, and China are three exceptional countries, and the path to space is still open only to a handful of major powers.
Technological innovation advances, and no matter how much current emerging nations appear to be on par with the great powers of the Cold War in terms of GDP figures, it has nothing to do with true national power.

India? ‘ESA?

Iran’s space program is clearly a project management disaster. Probably a lot of internal in fighting by trenched characters and ninnies. IRGC suffers from none of these. It def has the tech and PM prowess but not necessarily the same priorities.

TheImmortal · Aug 18, 2023

https://x.com/iranobserver0/status/1692100041450631601?s=46&t=Lmj7ENB6Hc7XVniwmP0DlQ

This is 2M resolution (example)

This is .5M

Commercial sats can get down to 30-40cm resolution

Which means worlds best spy satellites are likely down to 1-5cm if not better.

HGV · Aug 18, 2023

TheImmortal said:
https://x.com/iranobserver0/status/1692100041450631601?s=46&t=Lmj7ENB6Hc7XVniwmP0DlQ

This is 2M resolution (example)

View attachment 946688

This is .5M

Commercial sats can get down to 30-40cm resolution

Which means worlds best spy satellites are likely down to 1-5cm if not better.

1m or better resolution is the standard for spy satellites (US for sure has <10cm)

by the time iran builds 1m resolution satellite hopefully it will have a SLV to place it into orbit, so the timings can work well

TheImmortal · Aug 18, 2023

HGV said:
1m or better resolution is the standard for spy satellites (US for sure has <10cm)

by the time iran builds 1m resolution satellite hopefully it will have a SLV to place it into orbit, so the timings can work well

Commercial sats are already 30-40cm so any self respectable spy sat is likely in sub 5cm resolution real time or short notice (<60 mins). Spy satellite are typically 10-15 years ahead in tech plus the extra $$$$ governments have over private companies to build monster sats.

So Iran could ask a Russian or Chinese commercial space company to take photos of a certain location and have them within a couple of hours beyond any detail Iran’s can currently achieve for next 10 years. At some point the need for additional detail adds very little extra intelligence.

This is why geo-sat spy satellites are desirable. They can be place in a way to get 24/7 monitoring and harder to knock out with ASAT weapon. Low orbit (LEO) allows for more detail but you are the mercy of the orbit path and easier for enemy to blind the satellite with lasers if they knows it’s flight path and optics.

TheImmortal · Aug 18, 2023

ISA back to its usual grandiose claims, someone needs to stop allowing them to give interviews

Iran will execute 30 space launches within 5 years — The spokesperson for the Iranian Space Organization

https://x.com/iranobserver0/status/1691816730132148407?s=46&t=Lmj7ENB6Hc7XVniwmP0DlQ

Messerschmitt · Aug 18, 2023

https://twitter.com/x/status/1692516317675286801

jauk · Aug 19, 2023

Messerschmitt said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1692516317675286801

ببعععععله

aryobarzan · Aug 19, 2023

An article by SPUTNIK about Iran' civilian satellites activity.

Note: Spatial resolution of 2 meters for A Remote Sensing satellite is not so bad and not meant to be "Spy" satellite.

"Most commercial imagery falls between 2 and 5 meter resolution, with high-resolution sensors capturing at 70, 50 and 30 centimeter resolution.
For example, NASA’s Landsat collects imagery at 15-meter resolution.

Iran Commences Construction of Most Advanced-Ever Satellites

A fledgling space power with some of the best-developed space-based capabilities in the Muslim World, Iran’s space program has successfully launched over a dozen civilian and military satellites, created cosmodromes and built a range of homegrown space rockets using knowhow gained in the...

sputnikglobe.com

jauk · Aug 19, 2023

aryobarzan said:
An article by SPUTNIK about Iran' civilian satellites activity.

Note: Spatial resolution of 2 meters for A Remote Sensing satellite is not so bad and not meant to be "Spy" satellite.

"Most commercial imagery falls between 2 and 5 meter resolution, with high-resolution sensors capturing at 70, 50 and 30 centimeter resolution.
For example, NASA’s Landsat collects imagery at 15-meter resolution.

Iran Commences Construction of Most Advanced-Ever Satellites

A fledgling space power with some of the best-developed space-based capabilities in the Muslim World, Iran’s space program has successfully launched over a dozen civilian and military satellites, created cosmodromes and built a range of homegrown space rockets using knowhow gained in the...

sputnikglobe.com

These systems are heavily AI bound nowadays. The value of precision instrumentation and conventional software image processing is heavily shifting to AI. This essentially ‘democratizes’ spy satellites.

Also identification of new objects is far simpler since chances are there are preexisting images of a location. This allows high speed delta analysis and recognition of the delta item either via pattern recognition or, if new, AI recommendation. Once the item is correctly identified, the AI can suggest viable alternatives on how the object will grow or be utilized. And much much more such as threat analysis, object neutralization requirements, etc.