Nikolai Nikiforov, Russia’s Telecoms Minister (pictured), has said that his country’s space agency (Roscosmos) and Iranian space organisations are to increase their co-operation in the area of aerospace technology.

At a press conference in Moscow with Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mr Nikiforov said: “Iran is very interested in the experience of the Russian space programme, including in the sphere of communication. Indeed, colleague Vaezi has repeatedly talked about Iran’s interest in the use of Russian satellite technology. This is being discussed with Roscosmos.”

Iran successfully launched its first data-processing satellite, Omid (meaning hope), into orbit in 2009. It launched its second satellite, Rassad (observation), into orbit in 201 to take images of the earth and transmit them to ground stations.

In January 2013, Iran sent a monkey into space on a one-way trip aboard a bio-capsule called Pishgam (pioneer). Later that year, another monkey was sent into space; it came back alive and well.