Iran sends monkey into space

Iran has sent a live monkey onboard a homemade rocket named Pishgam (Pioneer) into space on Monday, Press TV reported.

Iran sent a capsule containing the monkey into space and retrieved the "shipment" intact later, the Tehran-based Arab- language Al-Alam channel said, quoting an official statement.

The project was studied and carried out by Iran's Space Agency (ISA) and the capsule was launched by the aerospace division of Iran's Defense Ministry to a pre-determined orbit, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The reports did not elaborate on its duration in the space.

Previous attempt by the Islamic republic to put a monkey into space was reported to have failed.

According to Fars, the objectives of the project, which were achieved, include sending the monkey to the height of 120 km, using domestic technology of designing, manufacturing and retrieving the capsule intact.

Tehran (Xinhua)