TEHRAN (FNA)- Head of Iran’s Satellite Systems Research Institute Hamed Babayee said on Monday Pars 1 satellite developed by Iranian researchers has successfully passed its environmental tests.

“Environmental tests of isolator systems designed for Pars 1 satellite’s prelaunch model were successfully performed in the Satellite Systems Research Institute of Iranian Space Agency (ISA),” Babayee said on Monday.

“Passive isolator to reduce the level of vibrations transmitted to the satellite has been designed and manufactured in this research institute, which has already been registered as an invention in the Intellectual Property Center and the Patent Office,” he added.

Babayee said that given the high sensitivity of space equipment used in satellites to vibrations and the possibility of damage to equipment due to vibrations caused by launch, the design and construction of this isolator system can be considered as a turning point in the design and construction of satellites in Iran.

Pars 1 is a sensing satellites which enjoys the resolution of 15m.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi announced last month that the number of the country's manufactured satellites will increase to 18 by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2021).

"Iran had made 3 satellites by the year 2013, it increased to 7 in 2017, 15 in 2020 and God willing, we will have 18 home-made satellites by the end of this year," Azari Jahromi said, addressing the parliamentarians in Tehran.

Also in June, Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari announced earlier this month Iran's plan to orbit high-quality satellites in an altitude of 1,000km above the Earth.

"We will reach the 2,000-km orbit in two years and our next step is reaching the 36,000-km orbit," Barari said.

He added that Iran is not dependent on any foreign country to advance its space program.

"Fortunately, today we are self-sufficient in designing and building satellites, platforms, satellite carriers, control and guide stations, data collection land stations and the whole cycle of this technology relying on the capabilities of the Iranian scientists and specialists and this whole cycle is operating with a fully indigenized mechanism," Barari said.