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Iran's Nascent Space Capabilities
(World Politics Review) John B. Sheldon - On paper, Iran has a range of space capabilities: communications and remote sensing satellites, space launch vehicles and facilities, a space situational awareness capability, a nascent industrial base, an established research and development infrastructure, and significant engineering and scientific talent. It also has a political establishment that understands the benefits of a space program for the purposes of economic and technological development, strategic autonomy and diplomatic prestige. However, Iran's space launch systems are only capable of launching very small satellites and are notoriously unreliable. As a result, many Iranian satellites have been launched into orbit by Russia.