Iran’s Nahid-2 satellite successfully launched into 500-km orbit
Mission marks milestone for Iran’s space program with locally built satellite testing advanced telecom systems
TEHRAN, Iran (MNTV) — Iran’s domestically developed Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite has been successfully placed into orbit at an altitude of approximately 500 kilometers, the Iranian Space Agency announced on Friday.
The satellite, weighing about 110 kilograms, was launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
It is set to remain in low Earth orbit for up to five years, with in-orbit testing of advanced telecommunications and propulsion systems developed entirely within Iran.
Nahid-2 was designed and constructed by experts at the Iranian Space Research Center and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, in collaboration with several local knowledge-based companies.
The launch represents a significant step forward for Iran’s ambitions to develop both low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary (GEO) satellite constellations.
The satellite will test key features including Ku-band communications—marking Iran’s first in-orbit trial of this frequency band—along with a three-axis attitude control system, data handling modules, dual-frequency transceivers, and a power management system.
A prominent feature of Nahid-2 is its Iranian-designed propulsion system, built to counteract orbital decay.
The hot gas thruster mechanism, which allows for altitude adjustments of up to 50 kilometers, includes high-precision control thrusters, a composite fuel tank, and locally produced high-pressure valves.
Due to their technological complexity, such components are rarely available on the global market.
Iranian engineers also developed supporting materials such as thermal insulation coatings, space-grade adhesives, and lithium-ion batteries—all of which were manufactured domestically.
The batteries are capable of enduring thousands of charge-discharge cycles throughout the satellite’s mission duration.
The presence of Iran’s official insignia on the Soyuz launch vehicle signified Tehran’s participation in a key international space operation.
The same launch platform has previously been used to deploy other Iranian satellites, including Khayyam, Pars-1, and Hodhod.
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