Iranian Firm to Launch Dual-Purpose Satellite on Russian Rocket

Hossein Shahabi, CEO of Omid Fazaa, told Mehr news agency that the satellite, named Two See One, integrates telecommunications and imaging functions in a single platform aimed at supporting precision agriculture.

“Last year, we launched the Hodhod satellite for IoT and telecommunications, and Kowsar for agricultural imaging,” Shahabi told Mehr News.

He reported that Hodhod successfully completed all mission checklists and is operating normally.

“Over a thousand international stations have confirmed receiving signals from Hodhod,” he added.

“Almost every update we get from the satellite is preceded by station reports just one or two minutes earlier.”

Kowsar completed around 70% of its mission checklists, but has not yet transmitted images due to communication issues with the ground station.

“There was a mismatch between the ground station specs and the satellite antenna,” he said.

This caused instability in communication, preventing image capture.

The issue was addressed by modifying the ground station.

“We’re now in the final stages of testing and hope to achieve successful imaging soon,” he added.

Moving forward, Shahabi said the company has begun building a new satellite that merges both missions into one system.

“We tested compatibility of the new satellite with the launch vehicle,” he said.

“This upgraded model, with improved technical specifications, is scheduled for launch mid-year.”

The satellite will be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

“Internally, we refer to it as Kowsar Version 1.5, but internationally it is named Two See One, meaning the first unit of our Two-Nama satellite constellation,” he said.

“Our goal is to create a multi-unit constellation capable of simultaneous IoT data transmission and precision imaging,” Shahabi stated.

“Having tested each function in separate launches, this marks the first time we’re combining both technologies in a single unit.”

Shahabi said this satellite would be classified as IOD3—the third in a series of in-orbit demonstrations following Hodhod and Kowsar (IOD1 and IOD2).

He anticipates up to seven test satellites before final deployment of the full constellation.

“We intend to expand this initiative internationally,” he added.

“While the Seventh Development Plan and knowledge-based company laws acknowledge the need for tech risk coverage, current regulations are insufficient.”

“We’ve faced challenges with oversight bodies, and more institutional support is necessary for tech startups to succeed.”

“We hope other private sector players will also step into this field,” he concluded.

In November of last year, the first privately developed satellites "Kowsar" and "Hodhod" were successfully launched into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz launcher, marking Iran's first private effort in satellite production and space deployment.