#space tracking

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has opened a new center for monitoring space and tracking objects passing near the Earth, reports RFERL on 09JUN13.

Ahmadinejad visited the center in the town of Delijan, some 200 kilometers south of Tehran, on June 9, accompanied by Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and other officials.

Vahidi was quoted as saying the purpose of the base is to secure Iran's "space facilities" and to monitor objects, "especially satellites," that pass overhead. He said the Delijan center uses radar, radio, and electro-optical tracking methods.

Iran currently has nine command-and-control centers for its space program, including one in Syria.

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