The launch of the
Noor 1 satellite on April 22, 2020, using the
Qased launch vehicle out of Shahroud space center revealed the existence of a parallel military space program run by the
IRGC as opposed to Iran's civil space program run by the
Iranian Space Agency (ISA). The site features a 23-meter-tall
servicing tower, a concrete launch pad 200 by 140 meters and an exhaust deflector with a length of 125 meters; Interestingly, the site features no storage facilities and fuel tanks for
liquid rocket propellant, and is primarily designed to launch
solid fueled launch vehicles such as the
Qaem. == Launch history ==