Zuljanah (rocket)

Zuljanah (Persian: ماهواره‌بر ذوالجناح), also spelled Zoljanah (and with a host of other spellings appearing sporadically), is an Iranian Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV),^[5][6][7] made by the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), which was unveiled on 1 February 2021, and was launched (at an unknown time before 1 February 2021, possibly 31 January 2021) into sub-orbital flight (apogee 500km) for testing and telemetry purposes.^[8][9][10] Zuljanah is able to carry satellites weighing up to 220kg into an orbit 500 kilometers above the Earth.^[11][12][13]

Zuljanah Satellite Launch Vehicle

Zuljanah Satellite Launch Vehicle
Manufacturer	Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran)
Country of origin	Iran[1][2][3][4]
Size
Height	25.5 meters
Diameter	1.5 meters
Mass	52 tons
Stages	3 (1st & 2nd Solid; 3rd Liquid)
Capacity
Payload to low Earth orbit
Mass	220 kg (490 lb)
Launch history
Status	Under Development
Launch sites	Semnan Space Center
Total launches	0 (+2 suborbital)
Success(es)	0 (+2 suborbital)
Failure(s)	0
First stage
Powered by	1 × unnamed solid fuel engine
Maximum thrust	725 kN (163,000 lbf)
Propellant	solid
Second stage
Powered by	1 × unnamed solid fuel engine
Maximum thrust	725 kN (163,000 lbf)
Propellant	solid
Third stage
Powered by	2 × LRE-4 (R-27 Zyb vernier engines)
Maximum thrust	35 kN (7,900 lbf)
Propellant	N2O4 / UDMH

According to Seyed Ahmad Husseini, the space spokesman of the Ministry of Defense: The Zuljanah SLV is part of a larger project called "Hazrat Fatemeh Al-Zahra" (Persian: حضرت فاطمه الزهراء). This SLV is considered to be the first indigenously designed and manufactured "hybrid" fuel satellite launch vehicle (solid/liquid fuel).^[14][15][16] As of June 2022, two more test flights are planned.^[17]

Design

Zuljanah measures 25.5 meters (84ft) in length and has a mass of 52 tons (115,000lbs). The first and second stages utilize an identical 1.5m diameter solid-fuel engine with 74 tons (725 kN; 163,000 lbf) of thrust and a Safir type 1.25m diameter liquid-fuel (UDMH /N₂O₄) engine with a thrust of 3.5 tons (35 kN; 7,800 lbf) as a third stage. Zuljanah is capable of carrying a single satellite weighing up to 220kg or a constellation of ten smaller 20kg cubesats to Low-Earth Orbit.^{[18][19][9][10]}

Zuljanah is the third civilian Satellite Launch Vehicle made in Iran, after the Safir and Simorgh. It is road-mobile, requires very little fueling time, and can be launched by Transporter-Erector Launchers (TELs), raising alarms from US and EU European defense analysts about its possible covert nature as Iran's first IRBM.^[20][21]

Launch History

Flight No.	Date & Time (UTC)	Payload	Outcome	Remarks
1	31 January 2021	Unknown; may be boilerplate	Success	First sub-orbital test flight
2	26 June 2022	Unknown	Success	Second sub-orbital test flight

Gallery

• 
  Zuljanah being held by the servicing tower
• 
  Zuljanah lifting off from the launch pad
• 
  Zuljanah in flight

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• Iranian Space Agency
• Semnan Space Center

Other Iranian satellite launch vehicles

• Safir (rocket)
• Simorgh (rocket)
• Qased (rocket)
• Qaem-100 (rocket)