Iran plans to send its second monkey into space onboard home-made rocket Pishgam (Pioneer) II within 45 days, a top official said.
In January, Iran sent a capsule containing a monkey onboard the Pishgam (Pioneer) I into space, Xinhua reported.
Unlike the first rocket which was solid-fuelled, the Pishgam II will use liquid propellant, the Tehran Times Sunday quoted Iran Space Agency (ISA) director Hamid Fazeli as saying.
The plan to send living creatures into space was part of the project to send human beings into space within a course of five to eight years, said the Iranian official.
ISA had plans to launch the Tadbir (Prudence) research satellite as well as Sharif and Nahid satellites into space by the end of the Iranian calendar year, which ends March 20, 2014, he added.