On August 18, 2008, Iran said a home-built rocket will be able to take a satellite into low orbit around the earth.

International concerns about Iran’s nuclear program alarmed Western nations and feared that the development could be a cover for ambitions to build the atomic bomb, but Tehran insists its aims are peaceful.  State television said the Safir (Ambassador) rocket is capable of putting a light satellite into low earth orbit between 250 and 500 kilometers above the earth.

The rocket launch footage showed that the Safir was about 22 meters long, with a diameter of 1.25 meters and weighed more than 26 tons.  The Shahab-3, Iran’s most powerful military missile, has a diameter of 1.30 meters and has a length of 17 meters.

The rocket’s launch raised concerns in Washington that the rocket technology could be diverted to military applications.  The Iranian development and testing of rockets is troubling and Western experts are still skeptic about their intentions.