Iran says it sent a monkey into space

Iran sent a monkey into space aboard a capsule and took it back safely after landing.The concern is in Western countries for ballistic technology reaching used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit. "Iran successfully launched a capsule named 'Pisgham' ('pioneer') c on a monkey within 120 km altitude and recovered undamaged cargo " , said the broadcaster Al Alam citing the Organization of Aerospace Defense Ministry Iran. Tehran had announced in mid-January, the project to send a monkey into space in early February as part of the celebrations of the 34th anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic revolution . This release was presented as a first step before sending "a man into space within 5-8 years". The project involved sending a monkey to 120 km altitude on a suborbital ballistic flight of about twenty minutes in a 285 kg capsule launched by a rocket Kavoshgar-5 . Iran and three satellites sent into space since 2009 , and a "capsule" with a rat, turtles and insects in February 2010 . An earlier attempt to send a monkey into space had ended in failure in 2011.