We have lift off: Fargam - whose name means 'auspicious' in Farsi - rode a Pajonesh rocket 75 miles up into space before his capsule safely detached and parachuted back to the ground, Iranian state TV said...
Iran frequently claims technological breakthroughs that are impossible to independently verify. The Islamic Republic has said it seeks to send an astronaut into space as part of an ambitious aerospace programme.

'The launch of Pajohesh is another long step getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space,' the official IRNA news agency said. It added: 'President Hassan Rouhani ... congratulated Iranian scientists and experts on successfully sending a second living creature into space.'

Scientists were able to monitor and measure signals coming from the rocket, including Fargam’s vital signs, during the flight, according to reports. Iran said that it sent its first monkey into space in January, reaching the same height of 75 miles.

For Iran, its aerospace programme is a source of national pride. It’s also one of the pillars of Iran’s aspirations to be seen as the technological hub for Islamic and developing countries.
Mr Rouhani used Twitter to mark the latest event, a demonstration of rocket power that is likely to cause concern in the West and among some Gulf states, which are worried about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

He said the monkey was named Fargam - Farsi for 'auspicious' - and had been returned to earth 'safe and sound'.

'In total, this is the second monkey sent into space and returned in perfect health to Iran,' Rouhani said in another Twitter message.

In the January mission, one of two official packages of photos of the simian space traveller depicted the wrong monkey, causing some international observers to wonder whether the monkey had died in space or that the launch didn’t go well.

But Iranian officials later said one set of pictures showed an archive photo of one of the alternate monkeys. They said three to five monkeys are simultaneously tested for such a flight and two or three are chosen for the launch. Finally, the one that is best suited for the mission and isn’t stressed is chosen for the voyage The Islamic Republic has not revealed where the rocket launch took place, but it has a major satellite launch complex near Semnan, about 200 km east of Tehran.

Iran says it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation, improve telecommunications and expand military surveillance of the region.

Western nations fear that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be put to use dispatching nuclear warheads to a target.

Iran's Gulf Arab neighbours view Iran missile capabilities as a threat. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have spent heavily in the past few years on advanced U.S.-made missile defence systems.

Iran's efforts to develop and test ballistic missiles and build a space launch capability have contributed to Israeli calls for pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and billions of dollars of U.S. ballistic missile defence spending.

In November, the world's six powers made a breakthrough deal for Tehran to curb its nuclear programme in return for limited sanctions easing.

The agreement appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that expanding a U.S. sanctions blacklist could seriously complicate the deal's implementation.

The Islamic Republic denies seeking weapons capability and says it seeks only electricity from its uranium enrichment so it can export more of its considerable oil wealth.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule as a prelude to sending humans into space. The space capsule, code-named Pishgam (Pioneer), was launched on Monday on the auspicious birthday anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). On January 15, the director of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said because of biological similarities between humans and monkeys, the latter were selected for the space mission.

Fazeli further highlighted that the plan to send animals into the space is part of a broader project to send human beings on space missions. The ISA director stated that Iran's first manned mission to space would be launched within the next five to eight years. Elsewhere in his remarks, Fazeli said the indigenous Sharifsat satellite will be put into the orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2013).