After joining the “Space Club” in 2009 when its small Safir launch vehicle orbited Omid (“Hope”), Iran sought to develop a more powerful orbital launcher named Simorgh (“Phoenix”). Simorgh would use four of Safir’s first stage engines to lift a roughly 87 tonne rocket, 62 tonnes heavier than Safir. It would be designed to carry 350 kg to low Earth orbit, nearly seven times more than Safir.
Safir was derived from Iran’s Shahab (“Shooting Star”) 3 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) series, itself thought to have been based on North Korea’s Nodong missile. Because it would be derived from the same base Nodong technology, Simorgh would end up looking a lot like North Korea’s successful Unha 2/3 launch vehicle.
Four fixed Nodong type engines would provide most of the thrust for Simorgh’s first stage, burning UDHM/N2O4 to produce about 121 tonnes of liftoff thrust. They would be augmented by four steering nozzles powered by a single turbopump making an additional roughly 14 tonnes thrust for a total of about 135 tonnes thrust. Like Unha 2/3, Simorgh’s first stage would be 2.4 meters diameter.
A large new launch pad was built for Simorgh in the Dasht-e-Kavir desert southeast of Semnan, Iran near 35.238 N, 53.951 E. It featured a mobile service tower, fixed umbilical tower, and underground flame trench, a more substantial site than the Safir flat pad several km to the west. Launches were aimed toward the southeast, toward the Arabian Sea.
Iran Orbital Failure
Iran’s Simorgh launch vehicle failed to reach orbit during a three-stage attempt on January 15, 2019. The 2.4 meter diameter rocket lifted off from the Simorgh pad at Semnan Space Center at approximately 00:30 UTC, carrying a remote sensing satellite named “Payam” and possibly a second satellite. A failure occcurred during the third stage phase of ascent, causing the stage to fall short of orbital velocity. A 500 km x 55 deg orbit was likely planned.
Simorgh consists of a hypergolic propellant first stage powered by four, fixed Nodong/Safir type engines augmented by a set of four roll control thrusters fed by their own turbopump. Together the engines produce a reported 130 tonnes thrust at liftoff.
The second stage may be derived from the smaller Safir launch vehicle’s second stage. The small, third, “kick” stage is likely housed within the payload fairing. Simorgh reportedly stands 27 meters and weighs 87 tonnes at liftoff. The rocket may be able to lift 350 kg to low Earth orbit in its ultimate form. Payam reportedly weighed less than 100 kg.
Simorgh has flown at least twice before, on April 19, 2016 and July 27, 2017. The goals and results of these flights are disputed outside of Iran. Some analysts believe that the 2016 flight was a planned, successful suborbital test and that the 2017 flight was a failed orbital attempt, with failure occurring during the second stage of flight.
Also read: Shtil’ – Space Launch Report
Iran Simorgh Fails
Iran’s Simorgh launch vehicle failed to reach orbit during its February 9, 2020 attempt to orbit the Zafar 1 satellite. Liftoff from the Khomeini Space Center at Semnan took place at 15:45 UTC. The early stages of the launch were nominal and the vehicle reached a 540 km apogee, close to its planned orbital altitude, but final velocity fell about 1,000 m/s short of orbital velocity.
Simorgh uses an Unha-like first stage topped by smaller diameter second stage. The first stage uses four main engines and four smaller steering thrust chambers, also similar to North Korea’s Unha stage. It was Simorgh’s fourth flight after launches in 2016, 2017, and 2019. None of the attempts have yet reached orbit.
Vehicle Configurations (Estimates)
| LEO Payload (metric tons) 250 km x 55 deg | Configuration | LIftoff Height (meters) | Liftoff Mass (metric tons) | ||
| Simorgh | 0.35 t | Three Stage Simorgh | ~26.5 m | ~86 t | |
Vehicle Components (Estimates Only)
| Simorgh Stage 1 | Simorgh Stage 2 | Simorgh Stage 3 (Saman-1) | Simorg PLF | |
| Diameter (m) | 2.4 m | 1.5 m | ~0.6 m | 1.5 m |
| Length (m) | 17.82 m | ~5.5 m | ~1.25 m | 3.2 m |
| Propellant Mass (tons) | ~63.0 t | ~8.0 t | ~0.185 t | |
| Total Mass (tons) | ~75.7 t | ~9.6 t | ~0.315 t | ~0.12 t |
| Engine | 4xNodong +LRE 15 Steering | 2xLRE-4 | Arash-24 Solid +Biprop RCS in PAF/Bus Frame | |
| Engine Mfgr | ||||
| Fuel | UDMH | UDMH | Solid | |
| Oxidizer | N2O4 | N2O4 | ||
| Thrust (SL tons) | ~135.9 t | |||
| Thrust (Vac tons) | ~7.3 t | ~1.3 t | ||
| ISP (SL sec) | ~240 s | – | – | |
| ISP (Vac sec) | ~283 s | ~292 s | ~286 s | |
| Burn Time (sec) | ~120 s | ~320 s | ~40 s | |
| No. Engines | 4+1 Steering (4 Nozzle Steering) | 2 | 1 |
Launch History
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SPACE LAUNCH REPORT
SIMORGH ORBITAL/SUBORBITAL LAUNCH LOG
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DATE VEHICLE ID PAYLOAD MASS(t) SITE* ORBIT**
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04/19/16 Simorgh MMSB001 2-Stg Suborb. test? SE 2 SUB [1]
07/27/17 Simorgh 3-Stg Orb. Attempt? SE 2 [FTO][2]
01/15/19 Simorgh Payam 0.1 SE 2 [FTO][3]
02/09/20 Simorgh MRSC001 Zafar 1 0.113 SE 2 [FTO][4]
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[1] Probable 2-stage suborbital test of Iran's Simorgh launch vehicle.
Some claim test failed. Semnan (SE) launch site, Pad 2.
[2] Probale 3-stage orbital test attempt. Stage 2 failure.
[3] Stage 3 failure. No orbit.
[4] Failed to orbit. Reached orbital altitude. Possible Stage 2 or 3
failure.
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