Iran satellite 'successfully' launched without reaching orbit

Iran "successfully" launched a satellite into space on Sunday but it fell short of reaching orbit, state television quoted a defence ministry spokesman as saying.

"The Simorgh (rocket) successfully propelled the Zafar satellite into space but the carrier did not reach the required speed to put the satellite into the intended orbit," Ahmad Hosseini of the ministry's space unit was quoted as saying.

It's the latest setback for a programme the US claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile programme.

The launch happened at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's Semnan province, some 230km southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran. 

A Simorgh, or "Phoenix," rocket couldn't put the Zafar 1 communications satellite into orbit, however, due to a low speed, Iranian state TV reported.

"Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path, it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit," Hosseini said.

Hosseini still sought to portray the failure as a ‚"remarkable," achievement for its space programme.

Third failed attempt 

The launch had been planned amid celebrations ahead of the February anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran routinely unveils technological achievements for its armed forces, its space programme and its nuclear efforts during this time.

Sunday's failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August. 

A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The rocket explosion in August drew even the attention of US President Donald Trump, who later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure.

The three failures in a row raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran’s programme.

US allegations

The US alleges such satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution calling on Iran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran, which has long said it does not seek nuclear weapons, maintains its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component. Tehran also says it hasn’t violated the UN resolution as it only "called upon" Tehran not to conduct such tests.

Over the past decade, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space.

The launch comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in May 2018. Iran since has begun breaking terms of the deal limiting its enrichment of uranium.

Meanwhile, a series of attacks across the Persian Gulf culminated with a US drone strike in Baghdad killing Iran's Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani and a retaliatory ballistic missile strike by Iran on Iraqi bases housing American troops earlier this month.

Iran also accidentally shot down a Ukrainian commercial airliner taking off from Tehran amid the tensions, killing all 176 people on board.