Inside Iran's new spaceport at Chabahar, India's port of interest

Iran is in the process of successfully developing a spaceport at Chabahar with Russia's help, from where it will launch satellites, rockets and even ballistic missiles, according to reports. The facility could rival the US's Cape Canaveral in Florida as Chabahar as it is situated close to the equator,  making launches easier. 

This would be Iran's third space launch facility, the other two being the Imam Khomeini Spaceport near Semnan, used by the Iranian Space Agency, and the Shahroud Space Center run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, the Chabahar facility is even bigger and can launch larger rockets than the two existing ones.  

The spaceport could be opened this year. Iran's Space Agency chief Hassan Salarieh told Tehran Times that once it is  finished, Chabahar will be a 14,000-hectare (54-square-mile) complex that will serve as Iran’s primary hub for space missions.

All this is despite US sanctions and efforts to stop Iran's space programmes. Despite the sanctions, the Iranian government continues to support its space programme, setting aside over $11 million for the same last year. 

The US believes the spaceports could also be test beds for intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technologies and the satellites those rockets carry may eventually prove equally valuable as military assets.

More satellites mean Iran could better guide its long-range weapons. "Iranians can become much more precise in their targeting and have quicker reaction times to launch their own ballistic missile forces to hit targets much more precisely," John Sheldon, Abu Dhabi-based founding partner at AstroAnalytica, a space consulting firm, told Bloomberg.

Interestingly, the spaceport comes in the same region where India has strategic interests.  India has significantly invested in the port, and will handle the development and operation as it believes this is a crucial regional trade route and a gateway to Central Asia and Afghanistan.

Middle East