Iran says "successfully" launches indigenous space tug into suborbital

TEHRAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran launched on Tuesday an indigenous space tug capable of shifting satellites and spaceborne cargo with different energy characteristics between orbits, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The Saman spacecraft, built by the Iranian Space Research Center (ISRC), was "successfully" launched into suborbital space by the defense ministry, the report said.

In the experimental process, the tests of the space tug's engine and rotation generating and de-rotating motors were "successfully" completed, said Hassan Salarieh, acting chief of Iranian Space Agency.

"As part of efforts to further expand homegrown telecommunications technology and manufacture a satellite rotating on a geostationary orbit, the development of the space tug was placed high on the agenda of the ISRC," Salarieh added.