Despite sanctions imposed by Western countries in recent years, Iran has managed to take giant strides in its civilian space program. Iran sent its first bio-capsule containing living creatures into space in February 2010, using a Kavoshgar (Explorer) carrier. Speaking to Fars news agency, Iran’s telecoms minister Issa Zarepour said Tehran will soon conduct suborbital tests of the new generation of bio-capsules, hoping that they will bring the country closer to its space goals. The capsule launched on Wednesday “is about half a ton and has the ability to carry a human, but its suborbital tests are underway,” he added.
