Last week, after several failed or aborted attempts, Tehran for the first time put a military satellite into orbit—a feat that involves the same technological capabilities needed to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Moreover, if reports in Iranian media are accurate, the satellite was launched using the same solid fuel that would be necessary for firing an ICBM. This development, write Behnam Ben Taleblu and Bradley Bowman, ought to “set-off alarm bells in Washington.”
A domestically manufactured, multi-stage, solid-propellant satellite-launch vehicle would be a game-changer for Tehran and can make longer-range ballistic missiles possible.
But there is one more reason to worry. Last week’s satellite launch was conducted entirely by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), which has operational control of Iran’s vast ballistic-missile arsenal. Unlike its predecessors, the new launch vehicle and accompanying satellite did not bear any of the logos of the Iranian Space Agency. Nor did it bear the logos of any of Iran’s defense-ministry subsidiaries. . . . This indicates that production and procurement [took place] entirely outside [of official] government channels.
In short, [it] was part of a secret program now public. Iran’s willingness to place this effort in the hands of the IRGC—designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.—should end any credible assertions that Iran’s interest in space is purely civilian. For too long, the U.S. ignored North Korea’s development of satellite launchers and long-range ballistic missiles. As a result, the Pentagon has been playing catch-up, rushing to field sufficient homeland missile-defense capabilities.
Washington should not make the same mistake when it comes to Iran.
Read more on FDD: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/04/28/iran-military-satellite-launch-requires-us-action