Report: Iran launched solid-fuel satellite rocket into space

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s official news agency says the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard force last week launched a solid-fuel satellite carrier rocket into space. Thursday’s report by the IRNA news agency quoted chief of the Guard’s aerospace unit as saying the test was successful. The general says the satellite carrier was made of a composite instead of metal, claiming that’s more “cost-efficient.” However, in general, composites are more expensive to produce than their metal equivalents. Composites also make a rocket lighter so it can boost a heavier satellite or payload into orbit. State TV did not show any footage on the launch.