The satellite was sent into orbit back in August of last year from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is run by Moscow.

Based on the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), the satellite employs remote sensing capabilities to provide high-quality images four times per day for use in environmental and agricultural studies as well as water resource monitoring.

Tens of locations in the vicinity of rivers in the western province of Lorestan and the southwestern province of Khuzestan have been assessed before and after rainfalls that led to floods, Mehr reported.

The satellite is also capable of monitoring forest areas and can immediately track wildfires, Reza Bayani an official with Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization, has said.

Improving productivity in the agriculture sector, surveying water resources, managing natural disasters, confronting deforestation, monitoring border areas and mining explorations are among the main objectives of the satellite.

If a fire occurs in an area during the satellite’s rotation, we can record its images at the same moment, and the positive and significant point of this satellite is that its images are periodic, he stated.

In many parts of the world, when some satellites record an image, a certain period of time passes until the next image is recorded, and in most parts of the world, images are sent with a time interval of 15 to 20 days, and during this interval, they use other satellites, but we can use Khayyam in different periods to monitor different areas of the country and have periodic information, he explained.

Extracting periodic information from the earth is the most widely used function of this satellite for systems such as natural resources, agriculture, and geology to use the earth’s platform to be up-to-date at any moment, according to Bayani.

Having a satellite with this resolving power can monitor the borders of the country, changes in vegetation, changes in forests, changes in the boundaries of cities and mines, and how to harvest them, he said.

It can level the type of agricultural products and their quantity and quality in agricultural lands, in addition to monitoring the type of forest species using its data. During a fire, it shows the critical areas and how the vegetation will return to the burnt lands, he concluded.

Hossein Daliriyan, a spokesperson for the Iranian Space Agency, said in June that the Khayyam satellite takes images from different parts of the country.

“These images will be utilized in order to address legal challenges of ordinary people and state institutions concerning land use changes.”

“We are ready to offer necessary data to other Iranian state agencies and help them solve their problems in various fields, including environmental monitoring, water resources, soil erosion and land subsidence,” he added.

Despite U.S. sanctions, Iran has made enormous technological and scientific advancements.

In June, ISA revealed that preparations were being made to launch seven additional satellites into orbit.

Iran conducted a second test of its homegrown Zuljanah hybrid-propellant satellite carrier rocket in late June for “predetermined research purposes.” In February 2021, the Zuljanah satellite carrier was first launched into orbit by the Defense Ministry.

President Ebrahim Raisi has emphasized the need to continue efforts to enhance space technology.

He stated in mid-March that “the obtainment of this technology is among the manifestations of national might, which was made possible with the efforts of the Armed Forces – especially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Communications Ministry – and must continue with greater force.”

President Raisi also highlighted the government’s serious commitment to advancing space technology.

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Equipped with a Fregat upper stage, Khayyam satellite was sent into orbit on Tuesday by Soyuz-2.1b rocket, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in neighboring Kazakhstan.

First telemetry data from the Khayyam satellite are reportedly received at the Iranian Space Agency’s (ISA) Mahdasht space base.

Telemetry is the collection of measurements and onboard instrument readings required to deduce the health and status of all of the subsystems on the satellite.

Saeed Seddiqian, an official with ISA, said that the satellite launch has been successful so far and that researchers in Iran were waiting to receive a signal.

According to the reports, the satellite will be placed in an orbit of 500 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. It will send high-resolution images four times a day.

Imagery from Khayyam will be used to monitor Iran’s borders and improve the country’s capabilities in management and planning in the fields of agriculture, natural resources, environment, mining, and natural disasters.

In a Sunday statement, the ISA rejected recent reports that claimed Moscow might maintain control of the satellite temporality to use it in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The ISA statement dispelled the unfounded suspicions and said that the Khayyam satellite will be fully controlled by Iranian experts and technicians based inside Iran from the very beginning of its launch.

It added that it is impossible for any country or entity to access the satellite other than Iran because it is equipped with encrypted algorithms designed by ISA’s researchers.

The statement came after a Thursday report on the website of the American newspaper the Washington Post alleging the Iranian satellite is supposed to aid Russia’s own war effort in Ukraine.

The report, citing an unnamed Western security official, claimed that the satellite is aimed to enhance Russia’s “surveillance of military targets” in the Ukraine conflict.

Iran has taken giant strides in the field of science of technology in recent years, despite crippling US sanctions, which is evident from its satellite launches.

Earlier this year, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force launched its second homegrown satellite into a low Earth orbit (LEO), nearly two years after the launch of its first military satellite.

The IRGC successfully put Nour-2 (Light-2) into orbit on March 8. The homegrown satellite was launched with a three-stage satellite carrier, dubbed Qased (Messenger), from a launchpad in Dasht-e Kavir, a large desert in central Iran.

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