Sina-1

Sina-1 (Persian: سینا ۱‎‎) is the first Iranian artificial satellite, launched at 6:52 UTC October 28, 2005 on board a Cosmos-3M Russian launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The rocket was also carrying a Russian military Mozhayets-5 satellite, a Chinese China-DMC, a British Topsat, a European Space Agency SSETI Express, a Norwegian nCube, a German UWE-1 and a Japanese XI-V. Sina-1 Satellite Catalog Number or USSPACECOM object number is 28893 .

In 2003, then-Defense Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani announced that Iran would launch its first satellite on a locally produced launch vehicle within eighteen months. The plan was to develop a booster based on the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile.

When difficulties arose with indigenous booster development, the Iranian Institute of Applied Research turned to the Omsk-based Russian company Polyot for both the launch services and Sina-1, for which $8 million USD was paid.

The Satellite

The Iranian Space Agency had for many years said they were on the verge of sending their first satellite into orbit, finally leading to the launch of Sina-1, a satellite for telecommunications and research purposes.