Iran Readies Monkey for July Orbital Flight

Iran will launch its Kavoshgar-5 rocket with a 300-kg capsule with monkey inside to space this July 2012, head of Iranian Space Agency, Hamid Fazeli said, IRNA reported.

The monkey is undergoing special training for the upcoming launch. "Given the good support that has been offered by the government, we will
have a program for sending living creatures into space," Head of the Iranian
Space Agency Hamid Fazeli said. He further announced that Iran will send
Fajr (Dawn), Tolou (Sunrise) and Elm-o Sana'at (Promise of Science and Industry)
satellites into orbit this year.

Iran, which launched its first satellite into orbit in 2009 and sent a rat, turtles, and worms into space aboard a Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010, unveiled its space monkey mission back in February 2011 as a prelude to launching a man into space by 2020.

Iran is nowhere near the Asian space front runners - China, Japan, and India. China is the only space power in Asia with a human space program today.

Iran is far from having a high-tech industrial base and has a glaring lack of expertise for building a man-rated, high-performance launch
vehicle and autonomous crew vehicle, along ...