Russia is finalising preparations to put a high-resolution military reconnaissance platform into orbit for Iran

New President Ebrahim Raise arrives with Iran's first spy satellite in tow

photo_camera PHOTO/ISNA - The expected launch of Iran's first spy satellite into space in the near future would be a goodwill gesture by the Kremlin towards Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raise

A thick smokescreen shrouds the degree of complicity between Russia and Iran on space matters, a strategic issue of concern to the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The extent of cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in the development of military satellites has yet to emerge, but the Biden administration is keeping a close eye on the matter. Not least of all. The US Defence Intelligence Agency - better known as DIA, or Defense Intelligence Agency - headed by Army Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, describes Iran as "the principal state challenge to US interests in the Middle East".

rusia-iran-satelite.

In what appears to be a self-serving leak, the prestigious US newspaper Washington Post revealed a few days ago that the collaboration between the two countries is soon to become a reality. Citing sources from intelligence officials in Washington and Middle Eastern countries who remain anonymous, the newspaper claims that a Russian Soyuz launcher will put into orbit this summer the first spy satellite that Russian industry has built for Iran.

The revelation has set off alarm bells in the US Congress and Senate, but the Kremlin is playing it down. President Vladimir Putin denied the veracity of the information a few days before his meeting in Geneva with President Joe Biden. In front of the cameras of the American television network NBC he declared that "it's just fake news (...), nonsense, rubbish". However, the beginning of close space cooperation between Moscow and Tehran dates back six years.

Atalayar198Foto3IranSatEspiaPresiPutinHassanRouhaniCreKremlin

During the 2015 edition of the MAKS International Air and Space Show in Moscow, the then Iranian vice-president Sorena Sattari reiterated her government's interest in closer industrial ties with Russia in the space field. The Tehran government's primary ambition is to have continuous observation capabilities over military installations in Israel, US and allied bases in Iraq, and oil fields and refineries in the Persian Gulf.

Control and monitoring facilities in Iran are ready

In the presence of Sattari and then Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Rogozin and Russian Space Agency Director General Igor Komarov, the official companies VNIIEM and NPK Barl on the one hand, and the Iranian state-owned company Bonyan Danesh Shargh and the Iranian Space Agency on the other, signed an agreement of intent on 25 August to jointly develop a remote sensing satellite system for Iran.

Atalayar198Foto4IranSatEspiaKanopusVCreRoscosmos

Dedicated to the production of surveillance and observation systems, the scientific company VNIIEM is responsible for designing, manufacturing and integrating the satellite. NPK Barl's role was to train Iranian technicians and provide the hardware and software for the development of the system's ground infrastructure in Iran. The main one has been installed in the city of Karaj, 20 kilometres west of Tehran, managed by the Iranian state company Bonyan Danesh Shargh, which is responsible for the control, monitoring and technical operation of the platform once in space.

Negotiations for the signing of the contract have dragged on for several years, have been kept secret by both parties and have not been free of tensions due to differences of opinion over the cost of the operation. Even a visit to Moscow in July 2016 by Iran's then minister of telecommunications and information technology, Mahmoud Vaezi, now head of the presidential office, failed to conclude the deal. The deal was still underway in mid-April 2017, at which point all trace of the matter is lost, at least to open intelligence sources. 

 Atalayar198Foto5IranSatEspiaRusiaMaexSergeyLavrovCreAlexanderSchcherbakTass

It apparently resurfaced last February, but disguised as a commercial remote sensing satellite "for a foreign customer", according to VNIIEM director general Leonid Makridenko. The fact that there is no indication of the purchasing party is not surprising in the space field, and even less so when it comes to Iran and Russia. But all indications are that this is the satellite contracted by President Hasan Rohani, as there is no indication that Moscow has entered into any other such contract with a third country other than Iran.

The terms of the agreement commit Moscow to provide Tehran with an optical space reconnaissance system based on an "enhanced version" for military applications of the Kanopus V observation satellites. With a lifetime of 5 to 7 years, it is a family of platforms originally developed to provide data and imagery for the benefit of the economy and the preservation of the environment.

The system will be complemented by a second satellite

The Iranian satellite, whose name remains secret, would weigh between 470 and 650 kilos, be equipped with high-resolution cameras in the visible and infrared spectra, provide images capable of covering 12.5 kilometre swathes of land and discern objects with a sub-metre resolution of around 0.70 metres. It would be placed in space at an altitude of around 500 kilometres, like its five Russian siblings launched in 2017 and 2018 and serving the Russian Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergencies.

Atalayar198Foto6IranSatEspiaRusiaSoldadosSiriaCreTass

The delays in the construction and launch of the Iranian satellite are due to several factors. Due to its light weight and dimensions, its launch into orbit must be paired with one or more Russian platforms, to complete the payload capacity of the launch rocket, which leads to administrative difficulties. The possibility of using a rocket other than the originally agreed Soyuz has also played a role, as well as the Moscow authorities' launch priorities.

Russia has only carried out a total of nine launches so far this year. The last of these took place on 25 June and involved a Soyuz rocket, which deployed the Pion-NKS signals intelligence spy satellite into space. But it has more than a dozen civilian and military devices in storage, awaiting completion due to a lack of electronic components from third countries, the origin of which lies in the sanctions imposed by the United States.

Atalayar198Foto7IranSatEspiaRusiaKanopusVIntegracionCreRoscosmos

The launch of Iran's first spy satellite into orbit in the coming weeks could well be a gesture of welcome and goodwill from the Kremlin towards Iran's newly elected president-elect, Ebrahim Raise, the winner of the general election held on 18 June. The important space platform will be a major piece in helping to secure the country's position as a dominant regional power, to be complemented by a second such device.

The US, Israel and Saudi Arabia remain vigilant. DIA analysts know that the Tehran government has significant military capabilities, extensive networks of international partners and is ready to use force against the US military and its allies. Should the satellite be placed in space soon, it will undoubtedly be a disruptive element for Washington, which will try to prevent Hezbollah - Tehran's most important secondary partner in the Middle East - and other Shia militias from benefiting from its imagery. 

More in Politics