Posted: Thu, Aug 21, 2008, 8:43 AM ET (1243 GMT)
A launch last weekend by Iran that the country's government claimed put a satellite into orbit was, in fact, a failure, according to information provided by US intelligence sources. The launch, which took place Saturday but not announced by Iran until Sunday, reportedly put a dummy or simple test satellite into orbit. However, US sources say that the second stage broke up during ascent, at an altitude above 150 kilometers, based on monitoring from a US Navy vessel in the Persian Gulf and satellite observations. Iranian officials still claim publicly that the launch is a success, although they have backed off from initial claims that it placed a satellite into orbit.

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