Orbital Launch Site
On occasion of the 10th anniversary of the 1998 Kwangmyongsong 1 satellite launch attempt, program conducted by North Korea in close cooperation with Iran and Pakistan, the Iranian Space Agency has proceeded with its own test. According to practice also observed by North Korea, Iranian authorities announced to their Chinese allies on August 16, 2008 the imminent launch of a satellite. On August 17, 2008 on the occasion of the birthday anniversary of Shiites' 12th Imam Hazrat Mahdi, Iran proceeded as preannounced with the second test launch of a three stages Safir SLV from a site 35°14′5″N 53°55′15″E / 35.23472°N 53.92083°E / 35.23472; 53.92083 south of Semnan in the northern part of the Dasht-e-Kavir desert. Reza Taghizadeh, head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization, told state television "The Safir (Ambassador) satellite carrier was launched today and for the first time we successfully launched a dummy satellite into orbit". As reported in late 2009 and early 2010, a new, larger launch pad was under construction at 35°15′30″N 53°57′17″E / 35.25833°N 53.95472°E / 35.25833; 53.95472
Read more about this topic: Semnan Province
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