Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country is preparing to launch its first telecommunications satellite into orbit in the near future.  The satellite will go into orbit aboard the Iranian-built Safir satellite carrier that can reach speeds up to 8,000 meters per second, Ahmadinejad said during the conference.

"The Islamic Republic has now developed the technology to build satellites and will use its advanced technology to launch its first remote sensing telecommunication satellite into space," he said during the press conference.

During a different press conference last week, the head of the Iranian Aerospace Organization announced it wants to send an astronaut into space within the next decade.

Even though the Exploration Systems & Technology company lost out on its first bid to build the NASA next-generation spacesuit, it is ready to submit a new proposal.  This comes a week after NASA announced it had terminated its $180 million contract with Oceaneering International, after the company was selected just two months ago.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office was contacted by NASA about the U.S. space agency looking into the cost proposals from both bidders.  Oceaneering said the contract was simply "terminated for the convenience of the government" due to a compliance issue.

Oceaneering is looking forward to working with NASA to get this issue resolved.  The selected company will be chosen to create 109 suits, with 24 of them expected to be lunar exploration suits.

An Earth-based team last week started a scientific experiment aboard the ISS's Kibo space module, Japanese media reports.  This is the first experiment from the ISS for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with the first experiment started by flight engineer Greg Chamitoff.  The project is designed to help study how fluid flows in a microgravity environment -- heat will be added to oil inside of a special device to help conduct the study.

JAXA delivered Kibo to the ISS in March and astronauts completed its installation three months later.

Meanwhile aboard the ISS, Commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Konenko continue to clean out various sections of the ISS, placing all unneeded supplies into the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle that will undock in the next two weeks.  Once undocked from the ISS, the ATV will head back to Earth where it will disintegrate as it goes through the Earth's atmosphere.