Mercurius Cantabrigiensis
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- Joined
- 8 November 2007
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Iran has embarked on an extensive upgrading of its Semnan space centre, building a launch pad and tower similar in configuration to those used by North Korea. This is located 4-5 km northeast of the existing launch pad used by the Safir satellite launch vehicle
GoogleEarth imagery of the new pad at 35.2586 N 53.9540 E shows a nearby concentration of new buildings, a dramatic change from the austere nature of the older pad used by Safir.
Assuming that the GoogleEarth scaling tool is accurate, the access area and pad are about 10-11 metres wide. If we take a rule-of-thumb that a removable tower/gantry can support a missile of about 25% of the gantry width, the new pad is likely to be able to handle missiles up to 2.5 in diameter. That fits the size class of North Korea’s Taeopdong 2 IRBM and Iran’s new Simorgh 3 satellite launch vehicle, a Taepodong 2 'look-alike' whose mockup was displayed earlier this month.
GoogleEarth imagery of the new pad at 35.2586 N 53.9540 E shows a nearby concentration of new buildings, a dramatic change from the austere nature of the older pad used by Safir.
Assuming that the GoogleEarth scaling tool is accurate, the access area and pad are about 10-11 metres wide. If we take a rule-of-thumb that a removable tower/gantry can support a missile of about 25% of the gantry width, the new pad is likely to be able to handle missiles up to 2.5 in diameter. That fits the size class of North Korea’s Taeopdong 2 IRBM and Iran’s new Simorgh 3 satellite launch vehicle, a Taepodong 2 'look-alike' whose mockup was displayed earlier this month.
