Iran has built a new rocket launch site which is likely to be used for testing ballistic missiles, The Daily Telegraph cites military analysts as saying.
According to the report, satellite images of the structure taken last month and published by IHS Jane’s Military and Security Assessments shows a 23 meters tall launch tower sitting on a launch pad. The images also shows a 125 meters long exhaust deflector.
The Telegraph quoted analysts as saying they believe it is designed to test ballistic missiles rather than launch space rockets, in spite of the new site being close to Iran’s first space center in the northern Semnan province.
The unfinished site has no storage facilities for liquid rocket fuel needed for rockets that launch satellites, which suggests it is built for ballistic missiles using solid fuel, the Telegraphquoted Jane's editor Matthew Clements as saying.
Jane's says the Shahrud site is one of three that will ultimately serve Iran's space program.
The Islamic Republic already has one space center at Semnan, 100 miles southwest of the new launching site, and is said to be building another space center in Chabahar, in the southeastern part of the country. A third launch site would seem excessive, particularly at a time of Western sanctions crippling the Iranian economy, Clements said.
"Imagery analysis of the Shahrud site suggests it will be a strategic facility used to test ballistic missiles, leaving the other two sites free to handle Iran's ambitious program of satellite launches."
Clements added there was no indication the base, located 25 miles southeast of the city of Shahrud, was a nuclear facility.
Solid fuel rockets are quicker to deploy than liquid fuel ones, Shashank Joshi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, is quoted by the Telegraph as saying.
“If you look at why their missile program has been so slow, one reason is their difficulties with solid fuel. A testing site which helps in that regard is concerning. Testing is critical. You don’t improve missiles until you test them," Joshi said.
Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Islamic Republic has pursued ambitious goals to develop its space program in recent years. In January this year it demonstrated its missile delivery systems by launching a live monkey into space and returning it safely, officials said.
Western countries are concerned that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be put to delivering nuclear warheads.
Iran's efforts to develop and test ballistic missiles and build a space launch capability have contributed to Israeli calls for pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and billions of dollars of US ballistic missile defense spending.
Jerusalem Post
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