Iran launches its 1st space satellite

Iran launches its 1st space satellite
White House to use 'all elements' of power to deal with threat

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Posted: February 03, 2009
4:29 pm Eastern



By Jerome R. Corsi



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WorldNetDaily


Iran's Omid satellite on the launch pad (Islamic Republic News
Agency)
NEW YORK – In an apparent direct challenge to the Obama
administration's theme of "hope" and "change," the Islamic Republic of
Iran launched into space today a domestically manufactured "Omid"
satellite, which means "Hope" in Farsi.

Asked about the development at today's White House press briefing,
presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said it "does not convince us that
Iran is acting responsibly to advance stability or security in the
region."

"Efforts to develop missile delivery capability, efforts to continue
on an illicit nuclear program, or threats that Iran makes toward
Israel and its sponsorship of terror are a chief concern of this
administration," Gibbs said.

"The president is clear that he wants Iran to be a responsible member
of the world community," Gibbs said. "Again, I would underscore the
'responsible.' With that goes responsibilities."

(Story continues below)


Gibb's said today's development "continues to underscore that our
administration will use all elements of our national power to deal
with Iran and to help it be a responsible member of the international
community."

A major international concern is that the missile technology used by
Iran to launch the satellite for supposedly peaceful purposes could be
adapted to create an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, to
deliver a nuclear weapon.

Iran launched the Omid satellite as part of the nation's celebrations
to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 revolution that began when
Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from exile in Paris.

According to the government-run Islamic Republic News Service,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order for the launch,
declaring, "Dear people of Iran, your children have sent Iran's first
domestic satellite into orbit. May this be a step toward … peace and
justice."

The Omid satellite was launched into space by an Iranian-produced
Safir 2 rocket, according to the Iranian Fars News Agency.

Fars reported the Omid satellite is equipped with two frequency bands
and eight antennae, capable of transmitting information to and from
earth 15 times a day while orbiting.

The Omid is a lightweight telecommunications satellite equipped with
remote sensing, satellite telemetry and geographic information system
technology, as well as remote and ground station data processing,
according to Fars.

The Safir-2 rocket is a two-stage, liquid fuel rocket that may have
contained a small, solid-fuel third stage, designed with satellite-
carrying capabilities and a range of 155 miles, Scientific American
reported.

The Iranian satellite program, which began four years ago, is
supposedly designed to monitor national security and natural hazards,
such as the 2003 earthquake in Bam that killed more than 26,000 people
and injured 30,000, according to the Scientific American report.

WND reported in February 2008 that Iran had successfully launched its
first space-rocket and was planning to send an Omid satellite into
orbit in the near future.

The satellite launch comes as press reports have circulated that back-
channel unofficial negotiations have already taken place between the
Obama administration and the Iranian government through the auspices
of Pugwash Group, an international organization of scientists who
champion international nuclear disarmament.

As WND reported, Iranian spokesman Gholam Hossein Ehlam has denied
reports of secret negotiations. Iran has demanded as a precondition of
any direct talks with the U.S. that the Obama administration first
change policy toward Iran by withdrawing troops from Iraq and
Afghanistan and ending U.S. support for Israel.

France confirmed Iran's successful launch of its first domestically-
produced satellite, according to the Associated Press.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said France is
"worried that there is … the development of capabilities that can be
used in the ballistic framework," the AP reported.

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I'm sure that after Obama's comments that the Iranians are
shaking in their sandals and shitting bricks. What kind of a
*** response is that?
.

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