The sources said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian President on Monday inaugurated the country’s first home-built space centre which will serve as a base for the launch of research satellites. The sources said the space centre includes a research satellite called Omid (hope), an underground control station & space launchpad. “Omid satellite is the Islamic Republic’s first locally made satellite which will be set at a low orbit”. The sources said that the space centre was to be opened by shooting a probe rocket into space. Iran successfully tested its first space rocket in February 2005. The Iranian launcher is based on the Shahab 3 missile, which has a range of 1,300 or 1,600 kilometres.