Iran is not a country one might normally associate with a burgeoning space program. Economic and technological sanctions against the country have made it hard for them to get much done in the way of developing anything related to getting something off the ground or acquiring new power sources. Still, they persevere and recent developments have shown that they are indeed serious about making their way beyond the limits of Earth.
The Iran Space Agency (ISA) is still in its infancy, with only three satellites launched from the country so far. The first Iranian satellite went up in 2005, but it was a hitchhiker on a Russian program. The first to actually leave Iranian soil was just a few years ago, in 2009. They’ve managed to send up some smaller life forms, such as rats, turtles and worms and the newest launch will take the ambition a step further by putting a monkey into space.
