“We are preparing the Rassad 1 (Observation) satellite for launch” by the end of 2010, IRIB quoted Taqipour as saying on Sunday.
According to a Press TV report, Iran needed to carry out further experiments on the second domestically-made satellite for the exact blast off time before March 2011.
Taqipour was also quoted saying that further additional information will be made public after pre-launch tests have been carried out and all systems including “the launch base, the carrier, ground navigation and control of the orbiter gear up for lift off.”
Iran will use the Rassad 1 satellite to transmit images of the earth and for meteorological purposes, the report said.
In 2009, the country launched its first homegrown research satellite. Iranian scientists were on schedule to launch the country's first manned mission to space in 2017, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.