Telecom Minister Reza Taqipour said Iran plans to set up a second space launch pad to send satellites into space. Studies are underway to find a location for the new space center, Taqipour said, Tabnak reported.
"Iran will host control and guidance stations of other countries' satellites in the future," the minister told Mehr News Agency on Sunday.
There is one space center in the country but it has geographical limitations for launching. Studies have been carried out for setting up a second (satellite) launch pad, he added.
The new launch pad will enable Iran to launch Low Earth Orbiting satellites (LEOs) into space.
Last Monday, Taqipour said that Iran is on track in its plans to launch its first manned mission into space.
"Initial steps for the plan have been taken, and the study phase on the definition of subsystems, sub-projects, costs, and relevant projects, has been concluded. This will be submitted to the Supreme Council on Space," Taqipour said.
Additional research is underway at Iranian universities for training courses for astronauts and other aspects of the space industry.
In 2009 Iran's Aerospace Organization (IAO) launched a 12-year project to send an astronaut into space by 2021.
Iran joined the club of countries with satellite-launching expertise in 2009 when it launched its domestically-produced Omid satellite that blasted into space on an indigenous carrier, Safir.
Omid is the third Iranian-made satellite to be sent into space. Russia launched Iran's first satellite in 2005. Three years later, another satellite, which had been jointly designed by Iran, China and Thailand, was launched into the orbit by China.
Iran opened its first space center, in February 2008, with the launch of the first domestically-built rocket, Explorer-1, into space.
The second Kavoshgar, which carried a space-lab and a restoration system, was launched in November 2008.
In February Iran launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket with one rodent, two turtles and several worms into sub-orbital space and returned them to Earth alive.
The rocket was able to transfer electronic data and live footage back to Earth. Tehran plans to launch the country's first manned mission into space by 2019.
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