Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread "monotheism, peace and justice" in the world.[9] The Tehran Times reported that "Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications."[10] Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran launched the satellite to "meet the needs of the country" and that it was "purely for peaceful purposes".[9] Since there was very little encryption on the satellite, data could be collected and read by citizens.[11]
Omid had the shape of a 40-centimeter (16 in) cube with mass of 27 kilograms (60 lb). Sources in the Iranian Space Agency say the satellite's sole payload was a store and forward telecommunication capability.[6]
The launch of Omid makes Iran the ninth country to develop an indigenous satellite launch capability.
Omid was the second Iranian satellite to be placed into orbit. A previous Iranian satellite, Sina-1, was built and launched for Iran by Russia in 2005.[12][13]
Speaking at the opening of a new space centre on 4 February 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that Omid would be launched in "the near future".[14] On 17 August 2008, Iranian officials reported that they performed a test of the satellite carrier; they broadcast footage of the Safir rocket launch in darkness.[15]
According to an American official, "The vehicle failed shortly after liftoff and in no way reached its intended position."[16]
The satellite was launched southeast over the Indian Ocean to avoid overflying neighboring countries and was placed into an orbit with an inclination of 55.5 degrees,[17]
with a perigee of 246 km, an apogee of 377 km, and a period of 90.76 minutes.[18]
Omid was reported to have completed its mission without any problems. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks.[19] According to U.S. Strategic Command, the Omid satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere on 25 April 2009, during an 8-hour window centered on 0342 UT. The most likely re-entry location was over the south Atlantic Ocean, east of Buenos Aires, Argentina. No sightings were reported.[20] The rocket body from the launch, which had also entered orbit, re-entered the atmosphere 31 May 2009.[21]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
