Russia will launch two Iranian satellites on November 5 under increasing cooperation.

On November 5, Russia intends to send two Iranian satellites into space, so strengthening their scientific and technological relations. Iran's envoy to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, claims that a Soyuz rocket from Russia will launch the satellites, Kowsar and Hodhod. This launch comes after Russia's successful February deployment of Iran's Pars 1 satellite aboard a Soyuz vehicle from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Hodhod acts as a tiny communications satellite; the Kowsar spacecraft is a high-resolution image satellite. Both were developed inside Iran's growing private space industry, therefore attesting to a major turning point in Iranian space technology aspirations. According earlier reports from the Tasnim news agency, this project marks a revolution for Iranian space industry private sector.

The cooperation under continuous U.S. sanctions against both countries is seen as a signal of their growing scientific alliance. Iran and Russia have expanded their cooperation in several spheres; notwithstanding world limitations, space technology is becoming a major focus of cooperation among them.