The head of the space research center at the Fisher Institute: an Iranian manned launch by 2019 is not realistic

Tal Inbar said these things in response to the Iranian television announcement by Ahmadinejad that Iran will send a man into space in 2019. It is possible that this is a cover designed to allow Iran to develop more accurate ballistic missiles

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that his country plans to launch a manned shuttle into space in 2019. Iranian English-language television PRESS.TV reported that Ahmadinejad made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the Iranian National Youth Festival.

According to him, the original plan was to launch a man into space in 2035, but at the cabinet meeting this week it was decided to shorten the time. Meanwhile, this August, Iran is supposed to launch the Sangesh satellite from its domain, and control it through an Iranian control center.

Tal Inbar, head of the Space Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Strategic Air and Space Research, and chairman of the Israel Space Association believes that this is a completely unrealistic announcement. "There is a big gap between launching a satellite that weighs less than 30 kg and developing the technologies to launch astronauts and certainly return them safely to Earth. The 2019 target also sounds improbable because of the speed in less than ten years from something less than Sputnik to the scale of heavy rockets and large spacecraft to launch humans.

For Russia at the time it took less, within four years of the launch of Sputnik Yuri Gagarin had already taken off into space?

Inbar: "Although for Russia it took less time. There is a difference between the technological power of the Soviet Union or the USA in those years or the difference between the new entrant - China, and therefore this is a declaration in Alma. Although Iran has sources of income, no one knows how much it cost China, it is estimated that it cost tens of billions from the moment the development of the Chinese space program began until the launch of the first astronaut, and this despite the fact that they have unlimited personnel and economic investments that no one knows how to estimate exactly, which certainly did not constitute no consideration This is not similar to the case of India, which today talks about developing an independent manned launch capability. India already has missiles capable of carrying manned spacecraft. They also have a great deal of experience in unmanned launches and, of course, today India is an economic powerhouse that can afford to develop a large space program."

As mentioned, in the last week of August a small satellite is expected to be launched using an Iranian missile, a nice capability but zero in relation to the needs of a manned launch. As you know, Iran is under a sanctions regime, and many in it are hungry for bread, it is not certain that they have a budget for such a program.

However, according to Inbar, the important thing to notice in Ahmadinejad's announcement is that the Iranian president clearly says that space developments are his answer to international sanctions and restrictions. And so it militarily illuminates his space program designed to achieve ballistic developments. A missile that is capable of carrying heavy payloads into space, including a manned spacecraft, will be able to reach targets with greater accuracy if instead of the manned spacecraft it carries an explosive or, God forbid, a worse payload.