What an amazing country and people. The great Iranians have accomplished another proud moment in our history:

Iran's Kavoshgar I lifts off for space
Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:25:21

Iran has launched a domestic sounding rocket into space simultaneously with the inauguration of its first domestic satellite complex.

The rocket, dubbed Kavoshgar I, was sent off to space from the launch pad on an official order from the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who attended the opening ceremony of the complex.

The suborbital research rocket took off at Iran's space launch base, which is specifically built for sending Iranian rockets into outer space from inside the country.

A sounding rocket is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its suborbital flight.

Kavoshgar I was launched as a preliminary step towards sending the 'Omid Satellite' into orbit. Omid is the first advanced scientific research satellite exclusively designed and made by Iranian scientists.

Issuing his command for launch in the name of God, President Ahmadinejad expressed hope this would be a leap forward in Iran's advancement as well as spiritual growth.

Iran, which aims to launch five satellites into orbit by 2010, joined the international space-faring community in February 2007 after successfully testing its first sounding rocket.