This morning, AFP and Reuters are reporting that Iran has put something into “orbit”. Specifically they say that the Kavoshgar I rocket, which launched on 4 February, is transmitting data to earth from an orbit of around 250km.

There’s a few problems with this claim. First, as we reported, the Kavoshgar I appears to be a single-staged rocket that could climb to the edge of space, but it lacks the thrust to reach the roughly 8 km/sec that it would need stay there. Furthermore, the space geeks over at Arms Control Wonk speculate that the rocket suffered a guidance failure during launch.

So what gives? I can’t find the original Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting service report that the wires seem to be working from, but other Iranian sources here and here indicate that the rocket simply transmitted data on its way up. That seems like a far more reasonable claim.

Interestingly enough, the Iranians now say that they will attempt a launch of a real satellite later this summer. Stay tuned…