Russia will launch two Iranian satellites into orbit using a Soyuz launcher on Tuesday, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said Monday, as the two U.S.-sanctioned countries deepen their scientific relationship. 

“In continuation of the development of Iran-Russia scientific and technological cooperation, two Iranian satellites, Kowsar and Hodhod, will be launched to a 500 km orbit of Earth,” Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said in a post on X. 

The development of Kowsar, a high-resolution imaging satellite, and Hodhod, a small communications satellite, is the first substantial effort by Iran’s private space sector, a report by Iran’s semiofficial news agency Tasnim said last month. 

Russia launched an Iranian research-sensing satellite, Pars 1, into space in February using a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
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