Iran to send monkey into space after Ramadan

Iran plans to send a monkey into space after Ramadan, aboard the Kavoshgar-5 rocket. The Islamic Republic's previous attempt to send a live monkey into space, failed in 2011.

The Tehran Times reported Hamid Fazeli, Director of Iran's Space Agency, announced on Wednesday that a live monkey will be placed inside a biological capsule in the Kavoshgah-5, and sent into space. The launch, which was originally scheduled for earlier this year, was delayed so further tests could be carried out. Fars reported Fazeli said "Kavoshgar-5 will carry a biological capsule containing a monkey into space. This is actually a prelude to preparing Iran for sending a human astronaut into space before 2021." Although Iran has already successfully sent a rat, turtles and worms into space aboard the Kavoshgah-3 rocket in 2010, an earlier attempt to launch a monkey into space in 2011, failed. AFP reported Iran acknowledged the attempt was a failure as not all its anticipated objectives were accomplished. The initiative to launch a monkey into space was first unveiled in February 2011 by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.