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According to Iranian and Azerbaijani press reports, Iran and Turkey, along with other member states of the Chinese-based Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) agreed on March 11 to proceed with the design and construction of a remote sensing satellite.
The decision follows the Fiscal Year 2015 APSCO Audit Commission meeting at APSCO headquarters in Beijing, China which ran from March 7-11 March.
Other countries involved in this proposed APSCO satellite programme include Bangladesh, China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Thailand. According to Iranian space officials, the outline of the remote sensing programme has been agreed upon by APSCO member states, but discussions on technical and financial issues will not begin until March 28.
APSCO has been discussing the possibility of jointly building a remote satellite since at least 2011. If the satellite programme is agreed upon, then the Amirkabir University of Technology, the University of Science and Technology and the Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology, all in Iran, will participate. Reports do not mention which Turkish universities and agencies would participate.
According to Iranian space officials, APSCO intends to build two cubesats and one microsatellite as part of the proposed programme.
