Iran to build coastal spaceport

Iran's spaceports

According to Issa Zarepour, Iran’s minister of communications and information technology, Iran is now planning a new spaceport on its southern coast near the city of Chabahar.

“[The process of construction of] the first phase of the port is being completed thanks to round-the-clock endeavor,” he said. He noted that the process had so far witnessed as much as “56-percent physical progress.”

“The facility would be inaugurated by the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies,” the minister said. He was referring to the 10-day-long annual celebrations that mark the historic run-up to the victory of the country’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. The celebrations will start in late January next year.

The spaceport is expected to host its first launch by next March, Zarepour added.

The map shows Chabahar’s location. It also shows Iran’s present spaceport in Semnan, where it has previously launched all its rockets.