Iran launched a rocket on Monday designed to send its first homemade research satellite into orbit in the next year, state television said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad read out the launch countdown before the rocket blasted off to chants of "God is greatest" by an audience of officials in a control room, state TV reported.
TV footage showed the rocket soaring into the sky from a desert launch pad, leaving a vapor trail. A parachute appeared to drop from the rocket shortly after the launch. State television gave few details about the rocket.
State media said the research satellite, called Omid (Hope), would be launched by March 2009.Tags: iran space omid rocket missile satellite technology persia persian ahmadinejad sina safir kavoshgar |
