Iranian children play on top of a tank, displayed next to the graves of soldiers, who were killed during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, at the Behesht-e- Zahra cemetery, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, in a ceremony commemorating the 33rd anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the pro-US Pahlavi dynasty. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian children play on top of a tank, displayed next to the graves of soldiers, who were killed during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, at the Behesht-e- Zahra cemetery, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, in a ceremony commemorating the 33rd anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the pro-US Pahlavi dynasty. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian President's office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, meets with Head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, at his office, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. An unidentified interpreter sits at center. (AP Photo/Office of the Iranian President,)
In this Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 photo, two Iranian men pose for a photographer in front of a mural of the Statue of Liberty painted on the wall of the former US Embassy, in Tehran, Iran, where Iranian militants students seized in November 1979. Militant Iranian students seized the embassy on Nov. 4, 1979, believing the embassy to be a center of plots against Iran, and then held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The US severed diplomatic ties in response, and the two countries have not had formal relations since. Since the Islamic Revolution 33 years ago, the walls and buildings of major cities have been an open air gallery to vilify the state's enemies and venerate the defenders of the theocracy. Government-sponsored murals became a centerpiece of the Islamic establishment's image-building machine: Depicting foes such as the U.S. with images including a skeleton for the Statue of Liberty, and celebrating the battle field dead from the 1980s war with Iraq as heroic martyrs guaranteed a place in heaven. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran successfully launched a new small satellite into orbit early Friday, state media reported, the latest in the country's ambitious space program that has raised concerns because if its possible military applications.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called in to the launch site, saying he was "hopeful this act will send a signal of more friendship among all human beings," the state IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA said the home-made satellite, Navid, or Gospel, was designed to collect data on weather conditions and monitor for natural disasters.
It said the satellite weighs about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and would orbit the earth at an altitude of up to 234 miles (375 kilometers), circling the planet 15 times a day. It's of a type known as miniaturized or microsatellites, which are cheaper to produce and allow for less costly launch vehicles.
Navid, produced at an Iranian engineering university, is the third small satellite that Iran launched over the past years and is expected to remain in orbit for about two months. The two earlier satellites ? Omid, launched in 2009, and Rasad, sent into orbit in June 2011 ? lasted three weeks and 82 days, respectively. IRNA said Navid has advanced control technology, a higher resolution camera and photocells to generate power.
The satellite was sent into orbit by a missile launch-vehicle dubbed Safir, or Ambassador in Farsi, which IRNA described as having 20 percent more launch power, compared to earlier versions of satellite carrier missiles.
An Iranian website, Irannuc.ir, claimed Safir was a ballistic missile that can be converted into an intercontinental missile. State TV showed footage of the launch, with a rocket sent off and turning into a light point in the darkness of the skies.
Iran's decade-old space program has raised alarms in the West, because the same technology that allows missiles to launch satellites can be used to fire warheads.
Israel, the U.S. and others charge that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting its nuclear enrichment program is geared only for peaceful purposes, such as energy production.
Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and the country's minister of science and technology, Kamran Daneshjoo, were present at the launch, IRNA said. There was no independent confirmation or details about where the launch took place.
Iran has made a series of claims in recent years about advances in its space program, which have not been verified by others. In 2010, Tehran announced it had successfully launched a rocket carrying a mouse, turtle and worms into space.
Also, Iran has set a goal of putting a man in orbit within 10 years, despite the expense and technological challenges involved.
The authorities are intent on showcasing the nation's technological successes as signs Iran can advance despite the West's sanctions over its controversial nuclear program. Iran is also pressing ahead with its military missile program, frequently testing missiles capable of reaching Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf and parts of southeast Europe.
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