A huge red missile roared to a sub-orbit of 130,000 kilometers, and China, the United States and Russia all looked sideways, Iran.
A huge rocket, heavy at the front and light at the bottom, slowly lifted into the air. The orange-red load chamber and the orange flaming tail contrast the dim desert with the vast sky. Still, the successful launch was met with enthusiasm from the crowd, as it marked Iran's entry into the human space age.
On December 6 last year, Iran, in an unknown place, successfully completed the task of carrying a 500 kg weight "Salman" rocket. This success shows that Iran theoretically has most of the technology needed to conduct human space flight, making it possible for it to be among the ranks of human space programs.
The Islamic Republic of Iran's press agency revealed some details of the missile test in an interview with IT Minister Zarepur. For example, a spacecraft can break away from the Earth at an altitude of 130 meters above the ground, and if it is measured by von Kármán's scale, it is "space", which can carry out suborbital voyages, and this business is the pride of many commercial human airlines.
The 500 kg spacecraft, more to complete a real human space flight, is scheduled to enter service in 2029. However, Zarepur did not say that there was not a single animal in the ship. Space animal testing used to be an indispensable step in many countries before human space flights. When science and technology develop to a certain extent, this step can also be achieved with a high-quality human body.
Iran's human space exploration is not too late, having launched a monkey in 2013 and returned safely. In September, they once again succeeded in launching a data-gathering satellite into space. In general, Iran has conducted relatively few rocket tests in the region, and the overall progress has been relatively slow, most likely because of the large amount of money invested in the space industry.
Iran faces strong defensive economic pressures to fund both the army, navy and air force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Allah in Lebanon, Shiite militias in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen. In such an environment, it is a miracle that Iran can still carry out space programs, because its export income is very limited under the strict sanctions of Western countries, and it relies heavily on the export of **.
Faced with a tight funding situation, Iran's engineering staff are trying to find ways to be cheap, efficient, and fast. For example, the core level components of the Salman are modified from the Ghaddell's medium-range missiles. Despite the fact that the missile uses liquid fuel and has a maximum effective range of 1700-2500 meters, its performance fully meets the requirements. Although the "Salman" vehicle looks relatively simple from the point of view of **, its essence is to turn it into a launch vehicle, so that the cost can be reduced.
However, in terms of its own structure and power, the Salman is still quite rudimentary, perhaps because the engineers used a relatively simple structure when launching in order to save costs. It is likely that this single-stage rocket will be put into operation after a few surface finishes in order to make better use of the missile program, simply replacing the warhead with a loading compartment, plus the necessary detection devices.
It should be noted that the "Gardel" already has a sufficient level of science and technology to accomplish such a relatively easy mission. However, if Iran is to conduct a human space flight in 2029, it will need to accelerate the development of launch vehicles with greater thrust and higher reliability. This is the key to bringing a manned spacecraft to a suborbital of 130,000 m, and a load of 500 kg does not seem to be enough.
It is important to note that the challenge of human space travel is not only to send astronauts into space, but also to ensure that they can survive the Earth's orbit and return to the ground safely. In particular, after entering the "black barrier", the flight quality and communication capability of the spacecraft will be greatly challenged. Failure to pass the anti-ablation and mitigation step during the return process will result in the failure of the entire flight plan.
In addition, deciding on a landing site was a challenge. Despite Iran's 1.6 million square kilometers, the slightest mistake can land a spacecraft overseas, causing a series of diplomatic disputes. Moreover, once landed, it would also pose a great challenge for Iranian military and maritime researchers.
In general, from planning, preparation, launch to **, there are a lot of thorny issues to deal with, and it costs a lot of money. Therefore, Iran must seize the moment and persevere in promoting this plan.
While the human space program is difficult to achieve, if Iran is really able to do so, the benefits to be gained are incalculable. First of all, the Arab countries have always had a high demand for space technology, and due to the technical level, external constraints, and lack of human resources, even the big rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have no choice but to join forces with Europe, the United States, China, Russia, and other countries to complete the development of their own space industry through manned spacecraft, scientific instruments, and small spacecraft.
If Iran can show the world what it is capable of in space, then it has the potential to become a space power in the Middle East, which should not be underestimated. If Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran join forces in space development, it would be a positive example to better narrow the divide between the various sects.
At the micro level, relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have long since eased, and if we can work together on such an important project, perhaps the Islamic countries of the Middle East will be more closely united.
Of course, optimism requires reason, and in reality, there are also obstacles to face. Judging by the ** exhibited previously, the space module launched into orbit for testing by Iran this time is relatively simple, and the modification of the launch device with a missile is obviously not sustainable. Therefore, the successful launch of Iran's "Salman" on 6 December is only the beginning of its long road, and there are still many difficulties to be faced.