Iran’s space launch on Thursday failed to put its three payloads into orbit after the rocket was unable to reach the required speed, a defence ministry spokesman said in remarks carried on state television on Friday.
The attempted launch, which came as indirect U.S.-Iran talks take place in Austria to try to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal, drew criticism from the United States, Germany and France.
“For a payload to enter orbit, it needs to reach speeds above 7,600 (metres per second). We reached 7,350,” the spokesman, Ahmad Hosseini, said in a documentary about the launch vehicle broadcast on state TV and posted online. Hosseini did not clarify whether the devices had reached orbit, but suggested the launch was a test ahead of coming attempts to put satellites into orbit. –Reuters
