Jahromi added that the private sector is serious in gaining the necessary permits for buying the satellite with “international cooperation” and sending it into the geo orbit in which Iran has orbital slots.

Noting that the orbital slots in the geo belong to Iran for the next two years, the ICT minister said the country hopes it would be able to orbit the satellite in due time.

Jahromi also pointed to the ongoing projects by domestic experts, saying the development of three home-made satellites, namely Nahid-1, Zafar, and Pars-1 will be completed by the end of the next Iranian year (March 2020).

According to Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari, Iran is among the nine superior states in building satellites beside the US, Russia, Europe and Canada.

President of Amir Kabir University of Technology Seyed Ahmad Motamedi had also underlined on Saturday that Iran has the capability to orbit high-quality satellites in an altitude 500km above the Earth.

“We are able to send satellites to the 500-km altitude and we can design satellites based on international standards,” Motamedi added.

Referring to the latest status of Payam satellite, launched successfully yesterday with the Simorgh satellite carrier, but unfortunately failed to be placed into the orbit, Motamedi described as “favorable” the technical performance of the satellite, underlining that “Payam was sending out signals from the space for about 6 minutes, indicating that the satellite works fine.”

Pointing to the current location of the satellite, he said “according to GPS data active until the last minute, Payam fell into Indian Ocian, after failure to be located into the orbit.”

Regarding the reasons behind the failure to put Payam satellite into orbit at 500 kilometers altitude, Chancellor of Amirkabir University said “the launcher had not correctly calculated the initial speed of the satellite.”

He also pointed to fuel-related issues as another reason for the failure in putting the satellite into the orbit. Motamedi added that the satellite did not have any problem regarding its launch direction and flight.

“Given the order by Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi to design and build the next satellite, named ‘Payam 2’, our team of scientists will prepare it for launch in less than a year, thanks to the technical knowledge we have now acquired,” he stressed.

Iran successfully launched domestically-built satellite, ‘Payam’, into space yesterday, however, technical problems that occurred during the final stage of the launch prevented the spacecraft from reaching orbit.

Payam (meaning ‘message’ in Persian) was designed and developed by experts of Amirkabir University of Technology to carry out imagery and telecommunication missions. It was aimed to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 500 kilometers to take surveying images at high resolutions.

In a Tuesday statement, Pompeo said, “Iran’s attempt to launch a satellite into orbit with a three-stage rocket demonstrates the Islamic Republic’s intent to develop missiles able to reach as far as Europe.”

Earlier in the day, Iran attempted to launch a telecommunication satellite into orbit but the rocket’s third stage failed to provide enough speed to reach the orbit.

The US official further said that the Islamic Republic’s recent satellite launch shows that the country is pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that threaten Europe and the Middle East, a claim which has been denied by Tehran.

Iran has repeatedly maintained that its missile program is in line with its deterrence doctrine and that it will continue testing conventional missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarf has insisted the program is Tehran’s natural right to reinforce its defensive and scientific potential, which is not a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

However, the United States has been trying to accuse Tehran of contravening the UN Security Council resolution.

In a Tuesday statement, Pompeo said, “Iran’s attempt to launch a satellite into orbit with a three-stage rocket demonstrates the Islamic Republic’s intent to develop missiles able to reach as far as Europe.”

Earlier in the day, Iran attempted to launch a telecommunication satellite into orbit but the rocket’s third stage failed to provide enough speed to reach the orbit.

The US official further said that the Islamic Republic’s recent satellite launch shows that the country is pursuing enhanced missile capabilities that threaten Europe and the Middle East, a claim which has been denied by Tehran.

Iran has repeatedly maintained that its missile program is in line with its deterrence doctrine and that it will continue testing conventional missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarf has insisted the program is Tehran’s natural right to reinforce its defensive and scientific potential, which is not a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

However, the United States has been trying to accuse Tehran of contravening the UN Security Council resolution.

Rouhani made the announcement while addressing a group of people in Golestan province during his provincial visit on Monday.

He said homegrown ‘Payam’ satellite will be put into orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers above Earth on a satellite-carrier rocket in the coming days. Rouhani added that the two are made by Iranian scientists at Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).

The president explained that Payam is Iran’s first operational satellite with a mission to send daily information about the country’s climate and agricultural lands.

He added that the satellite would pass over Iran’s airspace six times a day.

Elsewhere, the president underscored Iran’s close and amicable ties with all its neighbors and other countries in the region, from Turkmenistan to Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, and the southern Persian Gulf countries, adding “we have some disputes with one or two neighboring countries, but we are ready to resolve our issues.”

He added that the Israeli regime, meanwhile, wishes to bring Iran to its knees, but it will fail to do so.

“The US has imposed sanctions on our banking sector, oil and shipping industries, but we will stand firm against these sanctions,” Rouhani said, adding “the fact that we want to maintain banking ties with various countries is not an easy task, but God willing we will be able to do it.”