Zorasani Space Research Organisation
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سازمان تحقیقات فضایی زوراسانی; Sāzmāne Tajāssos Fazāiye Zorasān | |
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| Abbreviation | Saztafaz |
|---|---|
| Formation | 10 October 1984 |
| Headquarters | Hussein Farahi Complex, Zahedan |
Official language | Pasdani Badawiyan |
Administrator | Advazdar Khodanei |
| Ejtera Spaceport, Pardaran UR Mahrdad Ali Sattari Spaceport, Khazestan UR | |
Parent organisation | State Institute for Technological Innovation |
Budget |  $1.3 billion (2019) |
| Website | www.saztafaz.zo |
The Zorasani Space Research Organisation (Pasdani: سازمان تحقیقات فضایی زوراسانی; Sāzmāne Tajāssos Fazāiye Zorasān; STFZ), ZSRO, also commonly known in Zorasan as Saztafaz (Sāzmāne Tajāssos Fazāiye Zorasān), is the government space agency of Zorasan. It was established in 1984 and Zorasan became a orbital-launch-capable nation in 1997, with the successful deployment of the Zorasan-1 satellite.
Saztafaz initially began in 1984 as a sub-group of the State Commission for Technological Research and Exploration (SCTRE), with only limited government interest in space, the sub-group languished. In 1988, a group of Zorasani scientists successfully lobbied the government for expansion and greater funding for the sub-group, with the ZSRO formally established a government agency, subordinate to the State Institute for Technological Innovation in 1989.
ZSRO built Zorasan's first satellite, Zorasan-1, and its first launch vehicle, Simorgh-1 in 1997. Saztafaz subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Orbit Launch Vehicle (POLV) for launching satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Orbit Launch Vehicle (GOLV) for placing satellites into geostationary orbits. These successes resulted in the deployment of over 150 satellites between 1997 and 2010, for civil, commercial, scientific and military use. In 2010, in exploratory measures in preparation for manned spaceflight, Zorasan began to launch vehicles with animals and primates into orbit. However, plans for manned spaceflight were abandoned as of 2014 for further development of satellite technology and orbiter projects.
In 2018, it was announced plans were underway for the development and launch of a Lunar Orbiter by 2026, followed by inter-planetary and solar spacecraft missions.