Omid

Omid (Persian: امید, meaning "Hope") was Iran's first domestically made satellite. Omid was a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications; Iran's state television reported that it was successfully launched on 2 February 2009. After being launched by an Iranian-made carrier rocket, Safir 1, the satellite was placed into a low Earth orbit. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supervised the launch, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution; NASA verified the launch's success the following day. Its Satellite Catalog Number or USSPACECOM object number is 33506.

This article is about an Iranian satellite launched in 2009. For persons named Omid, see Omid (name).
Omid
OperatorISA
COSPAR ID2009-004A
SATCAT no.33506
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass26kg
Start of mission
Launch date2 February 2009 (2009-02-02)
RocketSafir-1
Launch siteSemnan
End of mission
DeactivatedApril 2009 (2009-05)
Decay date25 April 2009
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Eccentricity0
Perigee altitude258 kilometres (160 mi)
Apogee altitude364.8 kilometres (226.7 mi)
Inclination55.5 degrees
Period90.7 minutes
Epoch2 February 2009, 13:34:00 UTC
 

Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread "monotheism, peace and justice" in the world. The Tehran Times reported that "Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications." Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran launched the satellite to "meet the needs of the country" and that it was "purely for peaceful purposes". Since there was very little encryption on the satellite, data could be collected and read by citizens.

Omid had the shape of a 40-centimeter (16 in) cube with mass of 27 kilograms (60 lb). Sources in the Iranian Space Agency say the satellite's sole payload was a store and forward telecommunication capability.

The launch of Omid makes Iran the ninth country to develop an indigenous satellite launch capability.

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