Iran again fails to put sat into orbit

Tehran: An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a programme the US claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile programme. The launch happened at 7:15 pm local time at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province, some 230 km southeast of 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,” Defense Ministry spokesman Ahmad Hosseini told state TV.