Iran’s Orbital Defiance

The Islamic Republic’s latest satellite launch powered by Russia shows how sanctioned powers are reshaping the politics of orbit

For decades, space has been sold to the public as humanity’s most cooperative endeavour and as a realm above borders where science trumps politics. Yet, history suggests otherwise. From Sputnik’s shock in 1957 to the weaponised GPS of modern warfare, the orbit has always been an extension of earthly rivalry. Iran’s latest satellite launch executed with Russian help despite Western sanctions fits squarely into that tradition.

On December 28, Iran placed three satellites into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket launched from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia. The mission, unremarkable by global standards, was a crowded ‘rideshare’ flight carrying 52 satellites for multiple customers, including two Russian Earth-observation platforms and dozens of CubeSats. What made it noteworthy was the political context. Under heavy Western sanctions and diplomatic isolation, Iran had once again reached space with Moscow’s explicit assistance.

Tehran says the satellites - Paya, Zafar-2 and Kowsar - are civilian tools, designed to monitor agriculture, map natural resources and track environmental change. According to Iran’s state news agency, all three were developed domestically. Paya, weighing 150 kilograms, is reportedly the heaviest satellite Iran has yet deployed. Kowsar is far lighter at 35 kilograms, while details of Zafar-2 remain opaque.

Russian Aid

This was Iran’s second satellite launch of the year. In July, it also relied on Russian launch systems to reach orbit. Cut off from Western space markets, Iran has found in Russia a willing launch partner. The collaboration reflects perfect political alignment as well given that both countries are under sanctions, both frame their technological projects as symbols of sovereign resistance and both see space as a domain where Western dominance can be challenged without firing a shot.

Western governments remain sceptical of Iran’s benign explanations given the overlap between space-launch vehicles and ballistic-missile technology. A rocket capable of placing a satellite into orbit shares much of its DNA with one capable of delivering a warhead over long distances.

While Iran insists that its aerospace programme is peaceful and compliant with United Nations Security Council resolutions linked to its nuclear activities, the distinction between civilian and military use is technologically thin.

Such ambiguity is hardly unique to Iran. The United States, the Soviet Union, China and India all built their space programmes on foundations laid by military rocketry. Sputnik itself was less a scientific breakthrough than a demonstration of intercontinental missile capability. India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, today a commercial workhorse, grew out of strategic anxieties after China’s nuclear test in 1964. Iran, in this sense, is following a well-trodden path albeit under far heavier scrutiny.

Space Dreams

Iran’s space ambitions date back to 2009, when it first launched a domestically built satellite. Progress since then has been uneven, marked by technical failures as well as quiet successes. Yet, Tehran has invested in launch sites, satellite design and data-processing infrastructure, all under the banner of self-sufficiency. Space, for Iran’s leadership, is about national pride, technological independence and strategic presence in a region where information dominance increasingly shapes power.

Russia’s role adds another layer. Over the past decade, Moscow has sought to preserve its status as a leading space power even as budgets tighten and Western partnerships fray. Cooperation with Iran offers practical benefits: shared costs, additional launch demand and geopolitical leverage. For Tehran, Russian rockets provide access to reliable launch capacity otherwise denied by sanctions. For Moscow, Iran is both a customer and a fellow traveller in a world less hospitable to Western norms.

The timing of the December launch sharpened its political edge. It coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington - a moment when Iran’s regional posture was under intense discussion. Whether deliberate or convenient, the overlap sent a quiet signal which was that Iran’s technological trajectory will not pause for diplomatic choreography.

In West Asia, where advantage today accrues less from mass than from who sees first and longest, earth-observation satellites carry weight. While they may be billed as instruments of agriculture and climate, they also linger over borders. Even modest platforms, when paired with reliable launch partners and shared data, can shift strategic confidence. Cooperation with Russia therefore offers Iran more than orbital access: it extends its gaze, and with it, its room to manoeuvre.

More broadly, the episode underlines how space has become a geopolitical multiplier once again. What began in the 20th century as a duopoly of the Soviet and the American superpowers has evolved into a crowded arena of sanctioned states, emerging powers and commercial actors, all blurring the line between civilian utility and strategic intent. Then as now, access to orbit confers status as much as capability.

And sanctions, far from freezing technological ambition, tend to redirect it. They push states towards alternative partners, parallel systems and conspicuous demonstrations of resilience. For Tehran, space offers a means of asserting continuity and competence under pressure, a reminder that isolation need not imply stagnation. For Russia, it is another channel through which to dilute Western isolation, sustain relevance and bind fellow outliers into a looser, but durable, technological alignment.