Iran to send satellites to hig

An Iranian aerospace official said that Iran will send heavier satellites to higher orbits within two years, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration about sending heavier homemade satellites into the higher orbits will come into effect within two years, Managing Director of Iran's Air Industries Organization Manouchehr Manteqi told Fars on Monday.

"The promise made by the president on launching heavier satellites into the higher altitudes...will come into practice in less than two years," Manteqi was quoted as saying.

If Iran continues its present trend of progress in aerospace technology, it will be able to send scientists and astronauts into space within 10 years, said Manteqi according to Fars.

In February, Iran successfully test-fired a satellite rocket and unveiled three new satellites and a satellite carrier, Iran's English-language satellite channel Press TV reported.

The report said the "Kavosh 3" (Explore 3) rocket carrying an " experimental capsule" has been successfully test-fired and will transfer telemetric data, live pictures and flight and environmental analysis data.