Pishgam ( fa, پیشگام, "pioneer") is an Iranian 300-kilogramme space capsule and associated rocket ( Kavoshgar-Pishgam "Explorer-Pioneer"), which launched containing

rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally b ...

and is part of a series of Iranian rocket launches containing biological cargo intended as precursors to

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

Kavoshgar programme

The sounding rocket plus return capsule combination are capable of undertaking a twenty-minute flight and reach a height of 120 km. This is a sub-orbital flight not similar to the Safir rocket which launched

Omid ''Omid'' ( fa, امید, meaning "Hope") was Iran's first domestically made satellite. Omid was a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications; Iran's state television reported that it was successfully launched on 2 February 2009 ...

, a domestically-built data-processing satellite into low Earth orbit. The objective is to prepare for manned space flight after 2020, by sending monkeys into space. The Iranian Space Agency said before the first launch that they had five adolescent rhesus monkeys from South East Asia. The monkey's health is checked before launch and the launch is intended to demonstrate that the life support systems work and that the monkey will land in good health.

Earlier versions

On February 3, 2010, ISA launched a Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) rocket with one rodent, two turtles, and several worms into sub-orbital space and returned them to Earth alive. The rocket was enabled to transfer electronic data and live footage back to Earth. The Aerospace Research Institute (ARI) showed live video transmission of mini-environmental lab to enable further studies on the biological capsule. This was the first

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

launched by Iran. On March 15, 2011, the ISA launched the Kavoshgar-4 (Explorer-4) rocket carrying a test capsule designed to carry a monkey but without living creatures on board. The

sub-orbital flight A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

reached an apogee of and landed from the launch site. It contained the equipment to house the monkey, without an actual monkey.

September 2011 flight

Kavoshgar-5 (Explorer-5), carrying a live monkey, was launched for a 20-minute sub-orbital flight in September 2011, however the mission failed. The capsule contained a rhesus monkey. On October 3, Iran indefinitely postponed further plans while scientists reviewed readiness for future missions.

28 January 2013 flight

In May 2012, Iran announced that it would send more living creatures into space by the summer. On 1 August 2012 Hamid Fazeli from the

Iranian Space Agency The Iranian Space Agency (ISA, Persian language, Persian: ''Sāzmān-e Fazāi-ye Irān'') is Iran's Government of Iran, governmental space agency. Iran became an Timeline of first orbital launches by country, orbital-launch-capable nation in ...

announced that the monkey would be launched after

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, which ended on 19 August 2012. There were no subsequent announcements until December 2012 when it was said that the launch would be soon. On 28 January 2013 Iran announced that the launch has taken place on that day, which has religious significance as the birthday of

Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

, known as

Mawlid Mawlid, Mawlid an-Nabi ash-Sharif or Eid Milad un Nabi ( ar, المولد النبوي, translit=mawlid an-nabawī, lit=Birth of the Prophet, sometimes simply called in colloquial Arabic , , among other vernacular pronunciations; sometimes , ) ...

. Further details were not given except that the craft landed safely and the monkey survived. Later, on January 31, ISNA published a full video of the Pishgam Launch, from before the launch to reaching apogee and successful return of the monkey while the monkey remains conscious throughout the voyage.

December 14, 2013 flight

On December 14, 2013, Iran launched ''Kavoshgar-e Pazhuhesh'' (Kavoshgar 8) with a second monkey, named Fargam, on a suborbital flight. The monkey is retrieved successfully and safe, after the short 15 minute flight according to the full video of launch published by ISA website.

References