The Shah Never Did That: The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully achieved earth orbit with its first-ever satellite. According to wire services reports, the Iranian Sina-1 spacecraft on Oct. 27 was launched from a Russian space center aboard a launch vehicle built by Iranian and Russian scientists. Sina-1 was one of nine space vehicles carried into space on the rocket. The Iranian spacecraft is described as a research satellite that will survey the surface of the Earth, according to the Russian Space Agency.
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
