Iran plans to send into orbit two satellites, dubbed Kowsar and Hodhod, developed by the private sector, within days, using the Soyuz rockets.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Tehran has taken giant strides in the civilian space program, despite sanctions imposed by Western states in recent years. 
Iran released the first images of the two privately developed satellites which are set for launch aboard Russia’s Soyuz rocket next week.
Kowsar and Hodhod were shipped to Russia on October 11 for their scheduled launch into space on November 5.
The Kowsar satellite is a sensing satellite, and the Hodhod satellite serves both research and communication purposes.
Tehran has carried out successful satellite launches in recent years despite West’s pressure and sanctions on the country’s space sector, stressing that peaceful technological advancement in the aerospace field is the country’s legitimate right. Iran ranks among the top 10 nations worldwide with the capability and capacity to develop and deploy satellites.
Iran has dismissed claims its satellite launches are a cover for its missile program with authorities, stating that the satellites are used for various scientific and development purposes in the country.
Back in September, the Iran-made research satellite dubbed Chamran-1 was launched and successfully put into orbit by Iranian experts. The launching was carried out by the Indigenous satellite carrier Qaem-100.  
The Chamran-1 has been designed and manufactured by Iran Electronics Industries (Sairan) with the cooperation of Iranian knowledge-based companies.
The satellite was put into orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers (341 miles) above the Earth’s surface onboard domestically-developed Qaem-100 space launch vehicle (SLV).
In January, Iran simultaneously launched three satellites for the first time using a modern satellite carrier developed by the Iranian Defense Ministry.
It came more than a week after Iran launched its Sorayya satellite into orbit with a rocket designed and developed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC). Also in late February, an Iranian satellite was placed for the first time into an orbit of 500 kilometers./Fars News