Iran successfully launches the homegrown imaging satellite Noor 3 into orbit on September 27, 2023.

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the elite force will use the newly-launched Nour-3 imaging satellite for military intelligence purposes.

We use the collection of what we receive (from the satellite) and the information it gathers from the Earth to meet the IRGC’s intelligence demands, said Major General Hossein Salami on Wednesday as he was addressing a gathering of IRGC officers and veterans in Tehran.

His comments came hours after the IRGC placed Nour-3, also known as Najm, into orbit using its home-grown Qased satellite carrier.

Iran’s telecoms ministry said the satellite, which will be used for measurement and reconnaissance missions, had been successfully placed into an orbit of 450 kilometers from Earth.

Information released by the IRGC said the satellite had traveled with a speed of 7.6 kilometers per second allowing it to be placed into orbit some 500 seconds after its launch.

Elaborating on the specifications of the Nour-3, Salami said the satellite is seven kilograms heavier than its previous version Nour-2 and features imaging equipment that are more precise and produce pictures with better quality.

Commander of IRGC’s Aerospace Division Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh said after the launch that the force plans two more satellite launches until the end of the current Iranian calendar year which will be late March.

Hajizadeh said the launches will enable Iran to have a constellation of satellites in the space in the near future.

The IRGC had launched Nour-1 into a 425-km orbit on April 22, 2020 before it placed Nour-2 into an orbit of 500 kilometers from earth on February 27, 2022.