The Iranian Space Endeavor: Ambitions and Reality

317 Pages·2014·12.65 MB·English

by  Parviz Tarikhi

The
I r a n I a n
S pac e
e n d e avo r
ambitions
and reality
Parviz Tarikhi
Th e Iranian Space Endeavor
Ambitions and Reality

Parviz   Tarikhi
The Iranian Space
Endeavor
Ambitions and Reality
Parviz Tarikhi
Alborz Space Center
Iranian Space Agency
Karaj , Iran
SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION
ISBN 978-3-319-05346-2 ISBN 978-3-319-05347-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05347-9
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014941612
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Cover design: Jim Wilkie
Front cover: The Safi r-2 Satellite Launch Vehicle that carried the Omid satellite into space [Iranian Space Agency
(ISA), isa.ir]. Back cover, left: The remnants of the Maragheh Observatory (Iranian Historical Photographs Gallery,
www.fouman.com). Back cover, right: Iranian Astronaut Monkey (Mehr News Agency, mehrnews.com).
Project copy editor: David M. Harland
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Contents
Dedication .................................................................................................................. vii
Prologue ..................................................................................................................... ix
1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
2 From air into space: formation of infrastructures ......................................... 5
2-1 Aeronautics, the runway for departure to space ........................................ 10
2-2 Policy making and development ................................................................ 27
3 Education, research and public awareness for capacity building ................ 45
3-1 Academic education and research, the foundation
for mastering space .................................................................................... 51
3-2 Public awareness ........................................................................................ 69
3-3 Status of human resources in space and aerospace careers ....................... 76
4 International cooperation: a progressive approach ....................................... 77
4-1 Welcoming the Space Age, the past that heralded
a promising future ...................................................................................... 78
4-2 Iran’s contribution to space law ................................................................. 82
4-3 Mahdasht Receiving Station and the Iranian Remote Sensing Center ...... 87
4-4 Iran’s space communications ..................................................................... 101
4-5 International cooperation in satellite manufacturing
and joint satellite projects .......................................................................... 104
4-6 Activation and reviving international activities
and contribution to COPUOS .................................................................... 109
5 Legislation, managerial and administrational turmoil.................................. 117
5-1 Approval and establishment of the Iranian Space Agency ........................ 120
5-2 Change of the State and orientation ........................................................... 123
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vi Contents
5-3 New statute and martial feudalization at ISA .......................................... 125
5-4 Annexation and persistence of ambiguity ................................................ 131
6 Research hamstrung by the bureaucracy ....................................................... 135
6-1 Space Research Institute (SRI) ................................................................ 138
6-2 Aerospace Research Institute (ARI) ........................................................ 140
6-3 Engineering Research Institute (ERI) ...................................................... 145
6-4 A queer and ill-shaped confi guration for research ................................... 146
6-5 Disfavored genuine research ................................................................... 148
7 Disfavored applications and services............................................................... 157
7-1 Space services and remote sensing .......................................................... 157
7-2 Design and development of satellite networks ........................................ 161
7-3 Operating and maintenance of ground stations ....................................... 162
7-4 Auxiliary offi ces ...................................................................................... 170
7-5 Administrational status of remote sensing ............................................... 170
8 Development of domestic space apparatus and launchers ............................ 173
8-1 Domestic satellites ................................................................................... 174
8-2 Bio-capsule for life in space .................................................................... 190
8-3 Space launch vehicles .............................................................................. 191
8-4 Ground segment and development of sites and facilities ........................ 197
9 Space plans: ambitions, short-sightedness and paranoia .............................. 201
9-1 Space tourism, an Iranian in space ahead of Iran .................................... 202
9-2 Life in space and space journeys ............................................................. 204
10 Breaching the principles and ethical crisis ..................................................... 209
10-1 Comedown and decline ........................................................................... 209
10-2 Misuses and deceit ................................................................................... 216
10-3 Insolence and disgrace ............................................................................. 221
10-4 Season of imposture ................................................................................. 226
11 Concluding discussion and future outline ....................................................... 227
Appendix: Statutes of the Iranian Space Agency ................................................... 237
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 247
Collected references .................................................................................................. 255
About the author ....................................................................................................... 271
People index ............................................................................................................... 285
Subject index ............................................................................................................. 289
To my wife Zohreh, my sons Shahryar
and Kamyar, and my parents Ahmad Tarikhi
and Marzieh Ravandi, for kindly and sincerely
supporting me all the time and encouraging
me to realize the great wishes in my life,
be strong, overcome the diffi culties and stand up!

Prol ogue
It was the morning of a hot sunny summer’s day in late August in 2007. I was driving to
my new work place at the remote ground receiving station for the fi rst time. It was situated
near a small state airport, and the route was rocky and rough, full of cavities and holes.
Driving the car was diffi cult and it was raising pillars of dust behind. After 15 years of
working in the capital, I was transferred to this remote station. My mind was reviewing all
the events that I had witnessed during those years. Like the time I was employed by the
remote sensing center. My perseverance and knowledge drew the attention of the authori-
ties, whilst also raising the envy of some colleagues. However, I was always advancing
rapidly and promisingly. In 2000, I was sent to participate in the meetings of the U nited
Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space as the scientifi c and technical
delegation member. Soon thereafter, I chaired an action team focusing on the global strat-
egy for environmental monitoring established by the committee. Several years later, I was
selected as the bureau member of the committee. At that time I was the youngest member
of the bureau in the half-century since the committee was established, and the fi rst Iranian
member. With the offi cial establishment of the national space agency in Iran in 2004, my
responsibility increased, and by late 2005 I had gained a lot of respect and reputation by
working alongside the fi rst president of the agency.
D riving to the receiving station, I recalled the meeting held a couple of days earlier, at
11:30 am on Wednesday, August 21, 2007, at the offi ce of the president of the space
agency. He was present along with myself and three of his most devoted assistants and
trustees. At the end of the session, which very much resembled a fi eld military trial because
only the president spoke, I received an oral instruction to leave the headquarters and start
working at the remote site of the Mahdasht Satellite Receiving Station that was affi liated
to the agency and on a sprawling tract at the foot of some hills in a suburb of Karaj, 65km
west of Tehran. I was still the head of the offi ce for specialized international cooperation
of the agency, and sending me to Mahdasht without dismissing me served only to banish
me from my specialized function. I was disappointed and felt the situation unjust. I was so
frustrated that I thought perhaps I should write about my experiences. But I realized that I
must think the matter over carefully before taking to my pen.
ix