The Iran Project - On Wednesday morning, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force successfully put its homegrown imaging satellite, Noor-3, into orbit.

The satellite was launched by the Qased (messenger) satellite carrier and placed into an orbit 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface on Wednesday, according to Iran�s Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Eisa Zarepour.

In addition, Zarepour congratulated the Iranian people and the IRGC's space experts for this achievement.

�I congratulate all [Iranian] people, those active in the country�s space industry, and the IRGC�s space experts for this success. God willing, this year will be a fruitful year for the country�s space industry,� he said.

Last month, the Iranian Defense Minister announced plans to launch at least two domestically-made satellites into orbit this year. Despite Western sanctions, Iran has made significant progress in its civilian space program and is among the top 10 countries capable of developing and launching satellites.

In March last year, the IRGC Aerospace Force launched Noor-2 into orbit using the Qased satellite carrier, following the successful placement of Noor-1 two years prior.

In August, the Iranian Space Organization (ISA) had officially announced the commencement of production for �Pars-3,� Iran�s most advanced and precise satellite