The Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a monkey into space on a suborbital flight and returned it to Earth safely. On Monday, Iran launched the Kavoshgar Pishgam (Pioneer Discoverer) rocket, which took the primate to an altitude of 120 kilometers. “In this project, we are sending a live animal, a monkey, into space. This kind of monkey’s physiology is very similar to humans. We are [using]... 

Iran launched its first domestically-produced satellite, Omid (Hope), via Safir (Ambassador) carrier (shown) into orbit in 2009. Head of Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli says the country plans to send a living organism into space on board the Pishgam (Pioneer) satellite carrier in the near future. “Iran’s Space Agency (ISA) is fully prepared to send the Pishgam satellite carrier bearing...