Iran to launch astronaut by 2021

And will they be any more inclined to stay interested after
demonstrating ICBM capability than the US was?

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Marcel" wrote:
>
> SPACE TRAVEL
> Iran To Launch First Manned Spaceflight By 2021
>
> Iran put its first communications satellite, Omid (Hope), into a low
> Earth orbit on February 2. The research satellite, which contains
> communications and digital equipment, was carried into orbit by a
> domestically-made launch vehicle, Safir (Messenger). Photo courtesy AFP.
> by Staff Writers
> Tehran, Iran (RIA) Feb 16, 2009
> Iran will send its first man into space on board its own spacecraft by
> 2021, the head of Iran's Aerospace Agency announced on Thursday.
> "Scientific research has already begun in Iran," Reza Tagipur was
> quoted by Iranian media as saying.
>
> "According to our plans, a successful Iranian manned spaceflight will
> be carried out before 2021."
>
> "India and China were able to send their astronauts into space after
> 15 years of research and preparations. We will also go the same route,
> but believe we will achieve our goal in a shorter period," he said.
>
> Iran's Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies
> Mohammad Soltani told journalists on Thursday that "another seven
> satellites are being developed in Iran."
>
> According to the minister, four of the satellites have a payload of up
> to 100 kilograms (220 lbs) and are meant for a low-Earth orbit.
>
> "Iran's young scientists are working shoulder to shoulder to conquer
> space, that is why they are now building seven more satellites,"
> Soltani said.
>
> Iran put its first communications satellite, Omid (Hope), into a low
> Earth orbit on February 2. The research satellite, which contains
> communications and digital equipment, was carried into orbit by a
> domestically-made launch vehicle, Safir (Messenger).
>
> With the February launch, Iran became the eighth country in the world
> able to independently put satellites into space, after Russia, the
> U.S., France, China, India, Japan, and Israel.
>
> The United States, France, Israel and Britain have already expressed
> concern over the launch, voicing suspicions that Tehran may be
> developing long-range ballistic missile technology that could be used
> to launch nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its space program is of
> an entirely peaceful nature.
>
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Iran_To_Launch_First_Manned_Spaceflight_By_2021_999.html