Iran’s national space agency, whose mission is to carry out space research and coordinate related efforts at Iran’s universities and research centers. Established in 2003 and overseen by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Agency also carries out directives of the Iran Space Council, which is chaired by the Iranian president and presided over by the defence minister and other senior officials. It has had several launch successes, including the nation’s first domestic satellite (Omid) placed into Earth orbit in 2009 aboard Iran’s Safir rocket, and its first successful launch of the new Simorgh satellite launch vehicle in 2017. The Agency has also collaborated with other nations in developing satellites, six of which have been launched to date.