A research institute under the Iran Space Agency (ISA); conducts research and development on space launch vehicle technologies that have applications in ballistic missiles.

Carries out day-to-day work approved by Iran's Supreme Space Council; serves as the the ISA's "primary partner" for research and development, according to the U.S. Department of State; has worked with Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), which develops liquid propellant ballistic missiles; reportedly collaborates with Tehran University, including on a project valued at 3 billion Iranian rials.

Reportedly signed a contract to establish a "space park" in cooperation with Sharif University of Technology (SUT) in 2019; reportedly launched an "electro-optical laboratory" in 2019.

Affiliated with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; designs and manufactures sensors, spacecraft energy storage systems, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for satellites; designed and developed the Nahid-1 satellite in cooperation with ISA.

Research institutes include:

• Center for Space Research
• Materials and Energy Research Institute
• Mechanics Research Institute
• Satellite Research Institute
• Space Transportation Research Institute

Other research institutes reportedly include:

• Space Systems Integration and Testing Center
• Space Thrusters Institute

Employees specialize in aerospace engineering, as well as chemistry, computers, electricity, mechanics, and polymers; maintains several labs; has research centers that account for the majority of ISA's holdings and technical workforce; has reportedly published 250 research papers.

Officials have included Hossein Samimi (president) and Hadi Rezayi (deputy of research and technology); reportedly employs a total of 38 professors.

Reportedly established in 2007 or 2008.

Sanctions

Designated by the U.S. Department of State on September 3, 2019, pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; added on September 3, 2019, to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezing its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties, pursuant to Executive Order 13382; also subject to the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations; foreign parties facilitating transactions for the entity or otherwise assisting the entity are subject to U.S. sanctions.