Iran Unveils First Images from Most Advanced Indigenous Imaging Satellite “Paya”

Published: February 3, 2026 

Coinciding with the start of Iran’s Space Technology Week, the first images from Iran’s most advanced imaging satellite, “Paya,” were unveiled.

The ceremony marking Iran’s Space Technology Day was held on Tuesday in the presence of Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi and Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, during which the satellite images captured by Paya were officially presented.The “Paya” satellite, also known as “Toloe-3,” was launched into space on December 27 aboard a Russian Soyuz launch vehicle, along with two other Iranian satellites, “Kowsar” and “Zafar-2.”Paya is equipped with two imaging sensors capable of providing black-and-white images with a resolution of 5 meters and color images with a resolution of 10 meters. The final processed image accuracy is enhanced to 3 meters.For the first time in Iran, mirror-based imaging technology has been employed in this satellite, making Paya the country’s most advanced domestically developed imaging satellite.During the same ceremony, Iran’s Salmas Space Base was also officially inaugurated.

Fars News