Noor (satellite)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Noor is a family of Iranian military Earth-imaging CubeSats built and launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Three satellites have flown from Shahroud Space Center in Iran using the Qased rocket. Noor-1 was Iran’s first military satellite, launched on 22 April 2020 into about a 425 km low Earth orbit and decayed on 13 April 2022 after almost two years. Noor-1 carried a portrait of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and a Quranic verse.

Noor-2 was launched on 8 March 2022 into a ~500 km orbit. It has a resolution of about 12–15 meters, weighs about 17 kg, and covers a swath of about 25 km. It provides low‑resolution overhead imagery and has had multiple passes over targets.

Noor-3, also known as Najm, was launched on 27 September 2023 into a ~450 km orbit. It weighs about 24 kg and has a higher resolution of roughly 6 to 4.8 meters. It stabilizes faster than Noor-1 and offers sharper imagery to support intelligence, command and control, and guided equipment.

Key points
- Country/operator: Iran; IRGC (not the official space agency) runs the program.
- Type/power: Earth-imaging CubeSats (6U) with solar power; designed for about 1 year.
- Production/launches: 3 built, 3 launched, 2 active, 1 retired.
- Orbits: ~425–500 km altitude; orbits roughly every 90 minutes.
- Notable: Noor was IRGC’s first satellite developed and launched by its space unit. The program has drawn international reactions, with some governments calling it provocative and concerns raised about regional security.