Iran preparing to launch satellite into orbit, US experts say

Iran is set to launch a satellite into orbit in the coming days, raising concerns about Tehran’s potential development of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), US intelligence officials said.

According to satellite images obtained last week by arms control experts Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Melissa Hanham and Catherine Dill, the Imam Khomeini Space Center, located near Semnan in northern Iran, is being actively prepared for a launch on March 1 or 2.

Tehran issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) warning them away from the area on those days, Lewis wrote in his blog, Arms Control Wonk, last Wednesday.

He said the images show that construction at the site has recently been completed, and also reveal that the framework for pre-launch supporting and servicing is now positioned over the launch bucket, suggesting the rocket is currently being fueled.

The rocket being stacked at the site, called the Simorgh (Persian for “Phoenix”), is designed to carry a 100-kilogram (220-pound) payload into a 500-kilometer (310-mile) orbit.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-preparing-to-launch-satellite-into-orbit-us-experts-say/