Author Topic: Iraqi space program  (Read 13221 times)

Offline VDD1991

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Iraqi space program
« on: 08/24/2013 03:08 am »
All of may not know this, but more than two decades before Iran became the first Muslim nation to put a satellite into orbit with its own space rocket, Iraq under Saddam Hussein had a grand plan to become the Arab world's first spacefaring nation. More details are available at the following link:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1839/1

Anyway, the Iraqi space program was completely terminated due to UN sanctions against Iraq after the Persian Gulf War, and most experts expressed concern that the Al-Abid could be adapted for use as an ICBM. Iraq may restart its space program someday, provided that its space rocket technology is not used to develop a ballistic missile. To do so, it could use the Altair satellites for its first orbital launch, if examination of the satellites indicates that they are still in good condition to be mounted on top of a multistage SLV.

Offline Soheil

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #1 on: 08/24/2013 10:25 am »
All of may not know this, but more than two decades before Iran became the first Muslim nation to put a satellite into orbit with its own space rocket

Are you sure !?  ::)
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

Offline Phillip Clark

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #2 on: 08/24/2013 10:57 am »
Nothing was put into orbit on the Iraqi launch: only the first stage of the launch vehicle was "live".
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane - WJ.

Offline VDD1991

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #3 on: 08/24/2013 06:35 pm »
Regarding the first and only test flight of the Al Abid, there were conflicting reports about the outcome of the flight. The Iraqi News Agency said that the Al Abid rocket had put a dummy warhead into orbit, but on the other hand, the US confirmed the launch but did not give any mention of a dummy warhead (NYT, Dec. 9, 1989). (A videotape retrieved by UN inspectors showed that the rocket launch failed 45 seconds into the flight.) Given that the second and third stages of the first Al Abid rocket were dummies, is it possible that the Iraqi News Agency admitted that it mistakenly mentioned a dummy warhead on the original press release, later to correct the press release to note that the rocket launch was merely a suborbital test and didn't carry a payload?

Michael R. Gordon, "U.S. confirms Iraq has launched rocket that can carry satellites," The New York Times, 9 Dec 89.

Offline Danderman

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #4 on: 08/26/2013 06:28 pm »
As a footnote, I dimly recollect news stories at the time claiming that US detected debris in a low orbit from the launch. The debris was not supposed to be the payload, though.

Offline Moe Grills

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #5 on: 08/27/2013 07:13 pm »
    Well I for one am glad that Saddam Insane never had a multistage rocket
capable of sending 'something' 1000's of km distance to targets where you and I live.   

Offline Hog

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #6 on: 09/20/2013 06:36 pm »
Did Iraq not have intentions of building a Supergun to launch things into space?  IIRC ther were large diameter "barrels" intercepted en route to Iraq. Project babylon?
Paul

Offline kch

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #7 on: 09/20/2013 07:16 pm »
Did Iraq not have intentions of building a Supergun to launch things into space?  IIRC ther were large diameter "barrels" intercepted en route to Iraq. Project babylon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Babylon

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #8 on: 09/21/2013 12:52 am »
All of may not know this, but more than two decades before Iran became the first Muslim nation to put a satellite into orbit with its own space rocket, Iraq under Saddam Hussein had a grand plan to become the Arab world's first spacefaring nation. More details are available at the following link:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1839/1

Anyway, the Iraqi space program was completely terminated due to UN sanctions against Iraq after the Persian Gulf War, and most experts expressed concern that the Al-Abid could be adapted for use as an ICBM. Iraq may restart its space program someday, provided that its space rocket technology is not used to develop a ballistic missile. To do so, it could use the Altair satellites for its first orbital launch, if examination of the satellites indicates that they are still in good condition to be mounted on top of a multistage SLV.

Er, I wrote that article and it doesn't say that Iraq launched anything into space.

I've rewritten my two articles on the Iraqi space program as a single article and submitted it to Spaceflight magazine, but haven't heard anything more from the editor. I should probably ping him again.
« Last Edit: 09/21/2013 04:02 pm by Blackstar »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #9 on: 09/11/2022 02:13 pm »
New book coming out.

Offline Vahe231991

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #10 on: 09/16/2022 07:02 pm »
New book coming out.
It's possible that this book will include a brief account about the al-Abid SLV, because that rocket used technology derived from the al-Hussein and al-Abbas derivatives of the Scud missile.

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #11 on: 12/30/2022 02:17 am »
I have now obtained this book. It has a lot of information about a lot of Iraqi weapons systems. Unfortunately, the section on the Al Abid (which it refers to as the "Al-Aabed") is short and contains no new information.

The two best sources on the subject of the Iraqi space program apparently remain my two articles:

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1498/1

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1839/1



(Update: added the current cover, and the short entry on the Al-Abid.)

« Last Edit: 12/30/2022 05:09 pm by Blackstar »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #12 on: 01/17/2023 02:12 pm »
I'll probably start a thread about this in the history section, because it is about things that happened 33 years ago. But here's the latest:

https://thespacereview.com/article/4514/1

From the sand to the stars: Saddam Hussein’s failed space program
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, January 16, 2023

During the 1980s, the government of Saddam Hussein sought to develop an indigenous space program and then ran head first into external political roadblocks that made this impossible. Although more than three decades have passed since the end of the Iraqi space program, and Saddam has been dead since 2006, there is still relatively little information available on the Iraqi space program. This article summarizes what is publicly known.

On December 5, 1989, Iraq launched a 25-meter-long rocket from a launch pad 230 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Iraq described this as a “satellite launch system.” This was only a test of the first stage, and the vehicle’s second and third stages were mockups. The CIA determined that this was not a prototype ballistic missile: it was large and ungainly, and had to be launched from a fixed position making it vulnerable to attack. In a declassified top secret 1990 report, Iraqi Ballistic Missile Developments, the CIA stated that Iraq was indeed trying to build a satellite launching vehicle, but faced many technical challenges, such as staging and guidance.

After the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003, it was possible for US intelligence agencies, as well as the United Nations, to roam Iraq collecting evidence about its various weapons programs. The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, gathered substantial information on various Iraqi ballistic missile programs, including information on the Al Abid space launch vehicle. Much of the information was gathered from documents turned over by the Iraqis in 1995 after a high-level defector prompted the Iraqis to preemptively release documents they had been hiding. The material had been buried at a chicken farm in Iraq. The defector later had second thoughts, returned to Iraq, and was promptly assassinated by the regime. UNMOVIC also gathered additional information after the American invasion in the form of interviews and other documents. That information is contained in a report on various Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. In addition, some information emerged from Iraqi officials involved in their satellite program.

Offline Vahe231991

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Re: Iraqi space program
« Reply #13 on: 02/14/2023 12:12 am »
I have now obtained this book. It has a lot of information about a lot of Iraqi weapons systems. Unfortunately, the section on the Al Abid (which it refers to as the "Al-Aabed") is short and contains no new information.

The two best sources on the subject of the Iraqi space program apparently remain my two articles:

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1498/1

https://www.thespacereview.com/article/1839/1



(Update: added the current cover, and the short entry on the Al-Abid.)
It's good that this book includes brief mention of the Al-Abid SLV because that rocket was Saddam's boldest attempt at fielding an indigenous multistage rocket capable of launching rockets into orbit. Some new details on the first and only launch of the al-Abid are provided, considering that according to a UNMOVIC report, a videotape from Haidar Farm indicates that the first stage of the Al-Abid during its maiden launch functioned well until the vehicle exploded 45 seconds after liftoff. The author of this book is a former Iraqi engineer who worked in the Iraqi defense sector in the 1970s and 1980s, meaning that he has provided new info about Iraqi weapons projects that was previously unpublished, and it should be noted that the launch site for the al-Abid is given in the book as al-Anbar Space Research Center.

 

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