14 DAY TRIAL // Iran has reportedly succeeded in sending a monkey into space as has been its ambition for a few years now, according to a local news agency.
The Iranian-built Kavoshgar rocket propelled the capsule containing the rhesus monkey 120 kilometers or 75 miles into the atmosphere. The "shipment" was returned intact to the ground, the report also said.
Iran's space program has been in development for several years and has been criticized by other countries as a front for developing an intercontinental ballistic rocket capable of carrying a nuclear payload across great distances.
Rather, Iran claims it plans to send a man into space by 2020 and even has ambitions to land on the moon.
North Korea, which is also working on a space program, has managed to put a satellite into orbit recently, though it seems that the satellite, while in a stable orbit, is spinning uncontrollably.