Iran Space Agency to launch a monkey into space

Iran isn't a country with a high profile in space tourism ? but that could soon change. On Wednesday, the Iran Space Agency (ISA) announced its intention to launch a live Rhesus monkey into space. But can it bring the animal back?

A previous attempt to launch a craft carrying a monkey failed last October, stalling Iran's space ambitions. Now the mission is back on track, with a launch planned for mid-August, after the Islamic month of Ramadan endsd.

It is not the first time Iran has shown interest in launching animals into orbit. In 2010, the ISA's Kavoshgar-3 rocket carried worms, a mouse and two turtles as passengers. More significantly, the animals were reportedly safely returned to Earth.

It would be a major advance in Iran's space programme if the country is able to successfully return a monkey to Earth. "This would show its capability to return scientific payloads from orbit," says Bhupendra Jasani of King's College London, who studies the military use of space. "However, to launch a human may take some time."

Iranian forays into space exploration have surprised international onlookers due to their speed and secrecy. Iran has launched three domestically made satellites in as many years, and a fourth is to be launched in the next few months. Iran is the ninth country to put domestically built satellites into orbit, and the sixth to send animals into space.

Military milestone?

Some countries are wary of an Iranian space presence, concerned that the technology used to carry satellites, animals and potentially humans into space could also be used to transport weaponry. A successful round-trip for the monkey could have "worrying implications", says Jasani. "This launch would be a major milestone in a military sense. Iran, like many other spacefaring nations, is developing a space programme not only for the sake of prestige but also for national security reasons."

Iran has repeatedly denied that there are any military intentions behind their space programme, instead stating reasons including earthquake monitoring, imaging and improvement of telecommunications. Their space programme remains ambitious, with the aim of launching a human into space by 2020, and landing an astronaut on the moon by 2025.

Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation, which promotes ideas about the use of outer space, says it is interesting to compare Iran's space programme with that of North Korea. "The world community hasn't tried to stop Iran's rocket program like they have North Korea's because overall Iran is doing things that demonstrate it is serious about having a space programme. Although North Korea says they have a space programme, their actions lead many to conclude that it's really just a way to legitimise their development of ballistic missile technology."

Weeden says Iran's motivation is more likely to be to improve its national image rather than develop military capability in space.

"I think prestige is the most likely because it's the main reason why most countries pursue human spaceflight. You can demonstrate your country's technical and scientific prowess with robotic satellites, but those are hard to show off because they stay in space. A living, breathing organism is much easier for the public to identify with and, if you can bring it back down safely, much easier to publicise."

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