IRAN TEST-FIRES SATELLITE ROCKET

by Theresa , Wednesday, February 03, 2010, 03:35

Iran has successfully test-fired a satellite rocket, state television has reported.

The report by broadcaster Al Alam, said the rocket was a "Kavoshgar 3 satellite carrier".

It said the rocket included an "experimental capsule" that carried a mouse, turtle and worms.

The BBC's Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says it will raise concern about Iran's rocket technology and possible links to its nuclear programme.

Iranian television showed the rocket being fired from a desert launch pad and then images of the capsule detaching and spinning into orbit.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was also shown unveiling another Iranian-made satellite rocket, called the Simorgh.

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