Iran is quietly increasing its presence in outer space and widening its capabilities in cyberspace as Washington remains focused on the space programs of Russia and China, Foreign Policy reported.

Iran’s successes have so far focused on “low Earth orbit,” up to 1,200 kilometers from Earth, and generally used for Earth observation, some limited communications systems and, most famously, as a perch for the International Space Station, FP reported.

“Iran is now aiming to take a variety of satellites farther afield into the next two bands of space,” known as medium Earth orbit and geosynchronous equatorial orbit, FP’s Kevn Lim and Gil Baram wrote.

Located at up to 12,500 miles and 22,000 miles from Earth, these are used for navigation systems such as GPS, as well as Internet, television, and radio broadcast systems, FP reported.

As with its nuclear program, Tehran has argued for the exclusively peaceful purposes of its space program, the news outlet reported.

“It will almost certainly try to degrade, deny, and deter attempts by others to weaponize space,” the FP journalists wrote.

Source » newsmax