TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's space agency confirmed on Monday that the country successfully launched a domestic rocket carrying a test satellite late Sunday.

    An official from Iran's space agency told Xinhua that the Safir (Messenger) satellite-carrier rocket was launch successfully, but the country's first domestically built communications satellite, called Omid (Hope), has not been launched yet.

    On Sunday, the official IRNA news agency quoted a statement of the armed forces as saying that the satellite, Omid, was launched in the day by using Safir satellite-carrier rocket.

    The initial reports of local media was not correct, the official said on condition of anonymity.

    Iran's state television also quoted Reza Taghipour, head of Iran's space agency, as saying that the Safir rocket was successfully launched, paving the way for placing a satellite in space "in future."

    A "test satellite was put into orbit," the television said.

    According to Iran's English-language Press TV channel, the launch of Safir rocket is aimed to test remote sensing, satellite telemetry, and geographic information system (GIS) technology as well as remote and ground station data processing.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attended the launch ceremony of the satellite-carrier rocket from Iran's space station, said the report.

    In February, Iran said it has prepared for the satellite launch by sending a probe into space on the back of a rocket on the mission.

    On Friday, Ahmadinejad announced in an interview in Istanbul that Iran would in the near future launch its first domestically made satellite to the space.

    Iran, embroiled in a standoff with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions, has pursued a space program for several years, according to local media.