According to news on April 16, the Financial Times cited leaked documents from Iran.At the end of 2024, the Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps purchased a high-resolution earth observation satellite through on-orbit delivery..This satellite has greatly improved Iran's reconnaissance capabilities, allowing it to accurately target US military targets in the Middle East.
The satellite was purchased directly by the Iranian military and was not handled by civilian space agencies.Its imaging resolution reaches 0.5 meters, which is far superior to Iran's existing satellites.In comparison, Iran's current Nour-3 satellite has a resolution of only 5 meters, while the earlier Noor-2 has a resolution of 12 to 15 meters. Higher accuracy allows Iran to clearly identify fighter jets, ground vehicles, and even details of key facilities.
Documentary records show that this satellite has repeatedly taken images of US military bases in the Middle East. Some of the bases photographed were attacked by drones shortly after imaging. It is generally believed that the high-precision intelligence provided by satellites directly provides target guidance for strike operations.
This satellite is nominally for civilian use and is designed to be used in agriculture, ocean monitoring, emergency management, resource exploration and other fields. However, civilian remote sensing data has dual-use characteristics and can be quickly transformed into military combat support.
The satellite service adopts distributed deployment, and the core ground facilities are located in the territory of a third party, far away from the Iranian mainland. Israel has previously attacked aerospace-related targets in Iran many times, including ground stations and scientific research institutions.
However, the key ground facilities of this satellite are not in Iran, and Israel and the United States cannot attack them. This has significantly improved the survivability of Iran's satellite systems and made them almost difficult to destroy.
The report pointed out that similar military-civilian integration models are not unique. Many Western civil aerospace companies have also provided equipment and services to the military for a long time.
For example, SpaceX's Starlink system has provided critical communication support to the Ukrainian army in actual combat and has become an important guarantee for its continued operations.
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