The Director of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA), Morteza Barari, said that in ISA, a proper program has been developed for the withdrawal of the state administration in the country’s space sector.
According to Barari the license for the private telecommunication operators is one of these actions and they are developing a license for the private satellite operators.
“Our main goal in the second ten-year space plan is to consolidate and develop the infrastructure and making space applications and services more inclusive in the community.
At the moment, all of the world’s top reports focus on the pivotal economy of space, and now as the space sector has been linked to the private sector, statistics show that from $345 billion revenue of this sector, $260 billion of it is from the private sector,” Barari added.
“Our goal is to increase and highlight the role of the private sector in the country’s space sector, as the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (ICT), accounted 92% of the ICT area to the sector,” he said, emphasizing the necessity of serious and effective participation of the private sector in the development of space technology.
He added that Iran has now become one of the first 9 countries in the world to achieve the full cycle of space technology: “In the meantime, the private sector has played an important and influential role in this national honor and we’re looking to ensure the business security for them to increase productivity in this field.”
As mentioned earlier on TechRasa, Deputy Director of Iran Space Technology, Mojtaba Saradeghi, spoke with Mehr News about the country’s plans for this field’s development and entering startups and the private sector to this area was one of them.
He mentioned that: “Space technology should become an everyday need in the lives of the people, and in order to reach this point, startups can enter the arena. As a result, this year in the national day of space technology, the agency is going to identify and support startup ideas in this field.”
Iran Space Agency (ISA) is also planning to fund an Iranian satellite navigation system. ISA is also planning to set permanent space centers in northeastern and western parts of the country.
Saradeghi also added that In terms of promoting space science, a CubeSat competition will be held in different levels in Iran. The competition is aimed at gathering ideas to build a CubeSat which is a miniaturized satellite usually used for space research. CubeSats are an affordable choice that can be launched into space on most launch vehicles by some universities and private companies around the world.
The ideas gathered in the competition are then to be worked on in a bid to convert them into further space projects.
“Recognizing the barriers and removing them, rectifying the rules and facilitating the development and protection of the private sector is considered by ISA”, added the Director of the Iranian Space Agency, and noted: “The field of space business is developing rapidly to such degree that the European Space Agency is currently supporting over 500 startups.”
In the end, Barari summed up by saying that Iran Space Agency has put its priority in the development and creation of new businesses and is trying to develop these businesses as an effective step in creating jobs and overcoming the challenges that the country is facing today.”
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