Satellite images have revealed Iran's failure to launch another rocket carrying satellites in recent days, coinciding with Tehran's last-minute negotiations with global powers to salvage its controversial nuclear agreement in Vienna. The satellite images from Maxar Technologies, which were observed by the Associated Press, show signs of a fire at the launch pad in the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in the rural Semnan province of Iran on Sunday.
A damaged and burned rocket platform appears to be surrounded by vehicles. Part of the crane bridge on which it stands also seems to be burned. Successful launches typically do not damage rocket bridges, as they are lowered before liftoff. Iran also usually boasts about launches reaching space on its state-run television channels, but it has a history of not acknowledging failed attempts.
Separate images from Planet Labs PBC indicate that the launch attempt likely occurred sometime after Friday. Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, stated that the rocket in question appears to have been an Iranian satellite launch vehicle, and the cause of the explosion is still unclear. Lewis told the Associated Press, "It looks like it stopped as if something exploded."
Over the past decade, there have been five consecutive failed launches in Iran's space program, and during the failed attempt in 2019, authorities at the time stated that a separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 resulted in the deaths of three researchers. The successive failures have raised doubts about external interference in Iran's missile program according to the report. However, no evidence has been presented to prove interference in any of the failures, and launching into space remains a challenge even for the most successful programs in the world.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveiled its secret space program in April 2020 by successfully launching a satellite into orbit. However, the head of U.S. space operations later mocked the Iranian satellite, describing it as a "dilapidated webcam in space," claiming it does not provide vital intelligence to Iran despite demonstrating Tehran's ability to reach orbit successfully.
The United States has stated that launching such satellites defies a United Nations Security Council resolution and has called on Iran not to engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. While former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stepped back from the country's space program for fear of alienating the West during negotiations, the new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi has focused on advancing the program.
