Tehran Fails To Get It Up

By: - July 28, 2017

“To date, Iran has not been able to put a human being into orbit; although, in 2013 they did reportedly send a monkey into a short orbit.”

Yesterday, the Islamic Republic of Iran claimed that they had successfully used a two-stage rocket to launch a satellite into orbit.  The rocket launch was initially reported on a website linked to Iran’s state-run television network.  The claims came as the government announced the official opening of the Imam Khomeini National Space Center.

Some experts hypothesized that the launch was not just planned as an event coinciding with the Space Center’s grand opening, but also as a show of force just days after a U.S. Naval ship fired warning shots at an Iranian patrol boat.

The Islamic Republic claimed that the Safir-2 rocket was capable of carrying a 550 pound payload into an orbit 310 miles high.  A successful rocket launch could signal to the international community that Iran is developing long-range missile capabilities that could threaten Iran’s enemies, such as Israel.  This is especially alarming with Iran’s reported persistence in gaining nuclear weapon capabilities.

While the United States did confirm that Iran had launched a missile at 5:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time (2:00 P.M. local Iranian time), the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) stated that the rocket did not successfully deliver a payload into orbit.

According to STRATCOM’s Chief of Public Affairs, CAPT Brook DeWalt, the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) had not detected “any additional objects in space.”  The JSpOC maintains the Space Surveillance Network, which operates a worldwide network of 30 space surveillance sensors that maintain a catalog of all artificial objects that are orbiting the Earth.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Islamic Republic still insists that the launch was a total success and that the satellite was delivered into orbit.  Iran has yet to successfully put a satellite into orbit with the multistage Safir-2 rocket, so this launch would have been groundbreaking if it had succeeded.

In recent years, the Iranian Space Agency has had its funding slashed dramatically.  In 2008, their budget was reported to be $3.9 billion USD; in 2017 it was reportedly only $4.6 million USD.  Despite these cuts, it has been previously reported that the Iranian government wanted to put a man on the moon by 2025.  Currently, the United States is the only nation to have done so.

To date, Iran has not been able to put a human being into orbit; although, in 2013 they did reportedly send a monkey into a short orbit.

The United States and several other nations stated that the launch may have violated Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement. The U.S. State Department referred to the launch as a “provocative action” and the president of the United Nations Security Council, Liu Jieyi, stated that the missile test was not within the scope of the agreement.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department stated that the United States viewed the launch as “continued ballistic missile development” that is prohibited in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231.

It remains to be seen what actions the U.S. or the U.N. will take, with sanctions already being reportedly discussed by the Trump administration, even before the news of the launch.

  • RSS WND

    • WATCH: Tucker Carlson: How will AI affect work?
      Mike Rowe, still one of the best guys in the world. pic.twitter.com/06WduOhPuB — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 28, 2024 For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider! Content created… […]
    • MSNBC: 1 man's 'election denier' is another man's TV host
      MSNBC, the "news" outfit on which the Rev. Al Sharpton has a show, briefly hired former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, at $300,000 per year, to serve as an on-air pundit. Why did the rabidly anti-Trump, anti-Republican network make her the offer? MSNBC likely did so because 2024 is an election year; McDaniel was… […]
    • Dems' weakest case against Trump is first to go to trial
      Donald Trump was first indicted nearly a year ago, on April 4, 2023, when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced charges against the former president over a nondisclosure agreement Trump used to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had apparently had a brief sexual encounter. Bragg, an elected Democrat, won… […]
    • White House adds hair-sniffing contest to Easter Egg Roll!
      It's about time again for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. What the resurrection of Jesus has to do with eggs, chocolate candy, jelly beans or peeps is beyond me. Jesus did not arise from the dead and walk through the walls of the tomb holding an Easter basket and looking for eggs laid… […]
    • Say it, media: DEMOCRATS are prosecuting Trump
      On March 25, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart uncorked a typical not-so-funny sermon about how Donald Trump overvaluing real estate properties was not a "victimless crime." Trump has been found liable for fraud despite no banker or financier ever claiming Trump victimized them. Then the New York Post reported talk-show host Tim Pool tweeted that… […]
    • Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win
      In their weekly podcast, Hollywood veteran Loy Edge and longtime WND columnist Jack Cashill skirt the everyday politics downstream and travel merrily upstream to the source of our extraordinary culture. The post Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win appeared first on WND.
    • The shocking beliefs of America's powerful 'elites'
      It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America's most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities – or at least the ones educating the country's most powerful people. The Vietnam War era aside, it has traditionally been uncommon for events at universities to make national headlines. Absent something extraordinary, like… […]
    • Who is really behind Moscow terror attack?
      Was the Islamic State (ISIS) behind the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow that killed 139 and wounded 182 on March 22, 2024, or not? The Islamic State did claim the attack, and the Western mainstream is agreed that the terror group was, indeed, behind it. On March 25, White House press secretary Karine… […]
    • Only Democrats get to lie on NBC News
      Ronna McDaniel, formerly chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, was recently hired and subsequently fired by NBC News when the "talent," unable to countenance even moderate dissent, revolted on air. The entire kerfuffle is unsurprising considering the state of modern "media." But one of the funniest moments of the McDaniel blowup came when host and… […]
    • Accept $40,000 loan offer from 'FIL'?
      Dear Dave, My wife and I owe about $40,000 on our mortgage. My father-in-law, who is a very nice and generous man, said he wants to pay off the house for us, then let us pay him back over time. We've borrowed much smaller amounts of money from him in the past, and we were… […]
  • Enter My WorldView