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General Ali Jafarabadi, the Commander of the Space Division in the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, was interviewed an April 23, 2020 on Channel 1 (Iran) about the previous-day launch of the IRGC Noor 1 military satellite. He said that space is a strategic arena that has tremendous potential and in which Iran’s armed forces need to have a presence. He said that Noor 1 will play a role in "identification," communication, and navigation missions for Iran’s armed forces and that it will also perform non-defense-related missions. General Jafarabadi added that in the future, Iran plans to launch additional satellites into different altitudes and types of orbit and that Iran’s next step will be to launch "Noor 2".
Interviewer: "You said that launching the Noor 1 satellite was a necessity, not a choice. Why was it necessary to spend all that money and time to launch this satellite?"
Ali Jafarabadi: "Space – along with land, air and sea – is a strategic arena that has tremendous potential on a global scale. It is a puzzle in which the armed forces need to play a role. As a strategic defensive force, the IRGC needs to make use of space and to have a presence there. This is achieved by means of satellites that perform various defensive missions, non-defensive missions, and missions for assisting the people. The satellite that was launched yesterday is part of a puzzle that will play a role in identification missions and in providing strategic assistance to the armed forces in identification, communication and navigation missions. This is what (Aerospace Force Commander General) Hajizadeh spoke about yesterday. We must use these satellites and provide services to the armed forces.
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"The Noor 1 satellite is the first one. It is paving the way. We plan to have larger-scale satellites that will orbit at higher altitudes. For navigation missions, we need higher-altitude satellites. For communication purposes, we need (satellites) in MEO and GEO orbit.
[…]
"God willing, our next step will be to launch the Noor 2 satellite into orbit."
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