Tue, Aug 19, 2008
Says Test Of Satellite-Capable Booster Failed
With most of the world's attention this weekend focused on
Russia's military action in the former Soviet state of Georgia --
and, oh yeah, the Olympics -- Iran announced Sunday it successfully
tested a rocket capable of lifting a satellite into orbit. But
officials in the United States say that's highly unlikely.
CNN reports Pentagon officials dispute assertions made this
weekend by Iranian officials to the state-controlled Islamic
Republic News Agency, stating the two-stage Safire rocket fired
successfully and "paved the way for placing the first Iranian
satellite in orbit."
"The Iranians did not successfully launch the rocket," counters
one senior defense official, adding US intelligence indicates the
second stage "was erratic and out of control" and "did not perform
as designed."
A second unnamed official said the USS Russell tracked the
rocket from the Persian Gulf, and saw the rocket veer off
course.
Iran boasted earlier this year it would launch a satellite using
its own rocket by June. In February, Iran claimed it launched an orbital-capable "Explorer-I"
rocket, derived from the country's Shahab-3
intercontinental ballistic missile. The international community
raised its collective eyebrow to those claims, however, noting a
similar rocket only achieved suborbital flight in earlier
tests.
Even an unsuccessful firing concerns US officials, still on
alert after the belligerent Islamic state fired at least three
smaller missiles last month, in an apparent show of force.
"The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and
raises further questions about their intentions," said National
Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe. "This action and
dual-use possibilities for their ballistic missile program have
been a subject of (International Atomic Energy Agency) discussions
and are inconsistent with their UN Security Council
obligations."
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