Iran successfully puts 2nd military satellite into orbit

Iran successfully launched a military satellite named Noor-2 (Light-2) into orbit from a desert in the northern province of Shahroud on Tuesday, official news agency IRNA reported.

The satellite, which was manufactured by the Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and launched on the indigenous three-stage, mixed-fuel Qased (Messenger) carrier, is orbiting at an altitude of 500 kilometers.

The satellite, which is used for reconnaissance purposes, reached the orbit with an average speed of 6.7 kilometers per second, according to the report.

Noor-2 is Iran’s second military satellite put into a low Earth orbit. In late April 2020, the IRGC used Qased carrier to launch Noor-1 into an orbit of 425 kilometers above the earth’s surface.

At present, the Islamic republic has two military satellites in orbit.