Conference 7.286::space

585.0. "Iraq Has Tested a Satellite Rocket" by HYDRA::BIRO () Tue Dec 12 1989 07:39

The following is what I have on the Iraqui shot......
 
WP   12/09       Iraq Has Tested Satellite Rocket, U.S. Confirms
 
By Caryle Murphy;David B. Ottaway
Washington Post Staff Writers
 
   U.S. officials yesterday confirmed that Iraq has successfully
   tested a satellite-launching rocket, becoming the first Arab
   nation to obtain such a capability and the second after Saudi
   Arabia to gain a long-range, weapons-delivery system
   approximating that of Israel. But Iraq, unlike Saudi Arabia,
   has clearly moved far forward in developing its capacity to
   build intermediate-range missiles and to challenge Israel's
   leadership of such technology. The pace of development in a
   quickening Middle East arms race has become of major concern
   to Washington. Iraq's disclosure Thursday that it had launched
   a three-stage, 48-ton rocket two days earlier at the Al-Anbar
   Space Research Base west of Baghdad places it among the
   handful of developing countries with a satellite-launching
   capability. Hussein Kamel, Iraqi minister of industry and
   military industrialization, said the rocket had used a 70-ton,
   first-stage launch vehicle that would be used to put
   satellites into Earth orbit for scientific research. He gave
   no indication whether Iraq possessed such a satellite or might
   obtain one. The Iraqi announcement was the first indication
   the country had been working in secret on a space program. It
   came as something of a shock to U.S. missile proliferation
   experts who apparently had little idea an Arab nation had made
   such progress. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
   the department "understands that the Defense Intelligence
   Agency can confirm a launch of an Iraqi rocket capable of
   putting a satellite into orbit. At this point, we don't have
   any further details." Boucher would not comment on the
   considerable implications of the Iraqi feat. But he did say
   the United States had "long been concerned about the
   destabilizing effects of the spread of ballistic missiles and
   missile technology, especially in areas of tension such as the
   Middle East." "We have made our concerns known publicly and
   through diplomatic channels to countries in the region and we
   will continue to do so," he added. Boucher said the United
   States and other Western countries who joined in the 1987
   Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) had sought to control
   the export of missile technology to Middle East nations. But
   U.S. specialists said companies in West European nations
   belonging to MTCR, including West Germany, France and Italy,
   have provided much of the expertise and technology enabling
   Iraq to develop missile technology. The size of the Iraqi
   rocket indicates that in addition to being able to place a
   satellite in low Earth orbit, Iraq is probably able to deliver
   warheads to targets thousands of miles away, said Seth Carus,
   an expert on Middle East weapons capabilities at the Naval War
   College in Providence, R.I.
 
   "The simple reality is that if you are going to build a rocket
   which can put a satellite in low Earth orbit, you have a
   rocket which can reach intercontinental range," Carus said.
   Iraqi officials did not disclose the range of the new rocket.
   But Kamel said on Baghdad's state radio Thursday that Iraq had
   also developed two other surface-to-surface missiles with a
   range of 1,240 miles, more than twice that of a rocket Iraq
   had developed and used in its war with Iran, the al-Husayn
   missile. Saudi Arabia last year obtained Chinese CSS2 missiles
   with a range of 1,700 miles, but they were still not fully
   operational this fall and have never been tested by the
   kingdom. Israel until recently was far ahead in the Middle
   East missile race, having developed years ago the Jericho I
   rocket with a range of at least 600 miles. Testing of a newer
   version, the Jericho IIB with a range believed to be at least
   900 miles began in 1987, according to published reports. In
   September 1988, Israel launched a space satellite, Ofek I,
   aboard a three-stage rocket which stayed up three months. A
   Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory study concluded Israel
   probably can build a ballistic missile with a range of over
   2,800 miles and a payload of over 2,200 pounds. Carus said
   Iraq's latest rocket advance does not necessarily change the
   strategic balance between Iraq and Israel because Baghdad
   demonstrated in 1988 that it could strike Israel when it used
   its al-Husayn missile against Iran's capital city of Tehran.
   The al-Husayn is thought to be an upgraded model of the Soviet
   SCUD-B missile and has a range of up to 560 miles. But the new
   Iraqi rocket "may give them the capability to deliver larger
   payloads which could be important down the road if Iraq gets a
   nuclear weapon," Carus said. The Washington Post, citing
   Israeli sources, reported last year that Iraq is secretly
   engaged in a crash program to build nuclear warheads for use
   on a strategic missile also under development. Many U.S.
   intelligence sources and missile experts doubt Iraq can
   develop a nuclear weapons capacity in less than five to 10
   years. But this week's rocket flight, a major gain made in
   secret, may lead to a reassessment of that projected schedule.
   Israel dealt a major setback to Iraq's nuclear program in 1981
   by bombing its Osirak nuclear reactor on the pretext that
   Baghdad was developing a nuclear capability. Carus said Iraq's
   latest advance "would be an extremely impressive achievement
   especially since they have not been working on it all that
   long" and "would put them in the forefront of all Third World
   countries" in satellite launching. Brazil has failed to
   develop a satellite program, and India, while it has launched
   satellites, has an "erratic" capability, Carus said. Iraq was
   known to be working with Argentina on a new version of the
   Argentine-built Condor missile, whose range is 500 to 600
   miles. Egypt, an Iraqi ally, was also involved in the project,
   but U.S. officials have said they believe Cairo is no longer
   participating. Iraq's new capability is likely to bolster its
   efforts to become the leading Moslem military power in the
   region, eclipsing Iran and Syria, with whom Baghdad has tense
   relations. There was no immediate comment from either country.
   But Iraq also seems motivated by a desire to become as
   technologically advanced as Israel, judging from comments
   carried yesterday in Al-Qadissiya, the Iraqi defense ministry
   newspaper. "Iraq's success in launching satellite-carrier
   missiles will certainly put all its enemies in a state of
   bewilderment and consternation as they see their calculations
   unbalanced," the paper said. This "miracle achievement is a
   great challenge to anyone who wants to place hurdles before
   the Arab nation's desire to possess means of scientific
   development." Murphy reported from Cairo; Ottaway from
   Washington.
 
 
 
Bye for now,
    

    NBC's Today program Tuesday December 12th carried a ~60s news item with
    video of what was purported to be the Iraqi launch. The actual launch
    video lasted about 20s with a continual interchange of shots of the
    'ground control' equipment. This seemed to consist of a cream coloured
    disply bank that had 4 telemetry readouts on what looked like 10,
    multisegment flourescent display modules. (I don't know if I have
    described this correctly but the technology looked late 50's).
    Something like this:
    
           +-------------------------------------------------+
           |   |||||||||                       |||||||||     |
           |                                                 |
           |   |||||||||                       |||||||||     |
           +-------------------------------------------------+
    
    Each display was preceded by a � sign, and it advanced quite rapidly.
    
    The other 'cut' was to an oscilloscope (HP?) that displayed something
    like modulated carrier, which I presume was the received telemetry from
    the vehicle.
    
    This all looked quite unsophisticated but the launch and initial flight
    segment was quite impressive. For all I know, this was an Estes rocket
    with some video special effects.
    
    Unfortunately I didn't tape it.
    
    Anyone else see this? 
    Mike.
    
    
    
    
    
    

From: [email protected] (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Space news from March 5 AW&ST, etc.
Date: 16 Apr 90 01:05:43 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
  
    [Flight International, 21 Feb:]
 
    Iraq claims plans to launch two types of indigenous non-military
satellites for scientific purposes, date and launcher unspecified. 
The launcher is likely to be the Abid three-stage rocket which flew a
suborbital test in December; its capabilities are probably similar to
Israel's Shavit. 
-- 
        Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
        uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [email protected]