TEHRAN, 4 FEB, 2010: Iran announced on Wednesday that it successfully launched a domestically manufactured satellite-carrier rocket carrying one rodent, two turtles and several worms, Iran's Mehr News agency (MNA) reported.

The Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer 3 in English), a ten-foot long research rocket, carried this animals into space and returned them to Earth alive.

The spacecraft is also capable of transfering electronic data and live footage back to Earth.

Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi announced the successful launch of the spacecraft during a ceremony held in Tehran to commemorate the country’s Aerospace Technology Day.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Communications and Information Technology Minister Reza Taqipour, Science, Research and Technology Minister Kamran Daneshju, and Education Minister Hamidreza Hajibabaii attended the event.

In addition, three new domestically manufactured satellites, the Tolou (Sunrise), the Mesbah 2 (Lantern 2), and the Navid (Promising Sign) as well as a new satellite-carrier engine, the Simorgh 3, were unveiled during the ceremony.

Ahmadinejad said the new satellites demonstrate Iran’s technological expertise.

Addressing scientists and government officials who attended the Aerospace Technology Day ceremony, he said: “Those people whose contributions have made all this possible deserve praise.”

He described the scientific breakthroughs as the dawn of a new era of national development.

He added that Iran hopes to send astronauts into space one day.

The president also stated that Iran would like to start technological cooperation with other countries.

Simorgh 3 will launch Iran’s new satellites into space.

The Iranian defence minister said the launch was a success and added that Iran’s space programme is totally peaceful.

"Iran will not tolerate any un-peaceful use (of space) by any country," Vahidi stated.

He also said the newly unveiled satellites will be launched into space by the Simorgh satellite carrier.