MNA � Morteza Barari, Head of Iran Space Agency, said Sun. that the Islamic Republic of Iran is among the top 9 countries in building satellites, next to US, Russia, Canada and some European countries.







Barari said that Iran ranks first in the Middle East region in scientific authority, adding that the country held the 14th place in the world in aerospace engineering in 2016, and improved its ranking to 11th in 2017. He expressed hope that this scientific authority could one day become a technological, industrial and economic authority as well.

According to him, in the period from 2006 to 2015, Iran became one of the first nine countries in the world that completed a full space technology cycle.

Talking about the Space Agency�s projects, Barari noted the Amir Kabir University of Technology Satellite Project, saying the satellite is in the launching stage.

He described the satellite as being 50cm to 60cm in each dimension, capable of reaching 500km in height.

The AUT satellite is equipped�with four cameras on different wavelengths, capable of storing information and allowing simultaneous communication among 45 users, he added.

Barari maintained that four colleges, 16 university professors, as well as 110 PhD and postgraduate�students were involved in the AUT satellite project.

He further put the total cost of the project at nearly $1.2 million.