It gives me great pleasure to see new activities in a field that is today the most important issue in our country and the rest of the world that is paying attention to the aviation industry and taking advantage of its high capacities. Our country has a large young population. The fact that 570 papers have been sent to this conference –most of which are usable– is a good omen of the significance that our academics and researchers attach to this important issue.

I want to discuss this issue from the viewpoint of basics and policies. The cosmos, on the whole, consists of three important parts, which include the land, the sea and the space. God Almighty has asked man to take as much advantage as he can from these three parts and has set no restrictions in this regard. Humans first started to use the land and then directed their attention towards the sea. They came to use the space only recently. Taking advantage of land and sea has a long history, but using space in a scientific manner only dates back to recent years. Maybe the most important steps in this regard were taken during the 20^th century, which has been rightfully called the "Space Age." It is generally believed that this attention to space originated in 1903. However, during the past one hundred years, speed of progress in aerospace science has been really astounding and has contributed to progress in other fields including land and marine sciences.

A glance at the Holy Koran shows that when God told angels, who were primarily spatial creatures, that He intends to create the man on earth they protested and said man is a corrupt creature that will shed blood on earth. Then God Almighty asked certain questions from the angels which they could not answer. When the same questions were asked from Adam, he answered and the angels were ordered to bow before him. Some interpreters of the Holy Koran believe that angels here are qualitative forces of nature, which can be partly true. Therefore, you should also pay attention to the spiritual aspect of what you do and note that you are carrying out your divine obligations.

Today, aerospace science, which has been translated into an aerospace industry, is a main factor in dignifying countries and increasing their influence. Some of our social personalities, especially industrial and military personalities can be among your best colleagues. In fact, cooperation among important sectors including road and transportation as well as the air and ground forces with respect to helicopters, military industries, airplane manufacturing industries, communications and satellite industries and other industries related to aerospace is very important. It is routine all around the world that scientific research is goaded by military needs. Whenever human beings have felt a serious need for something they have used their brains, found solutions and opened new doors to humanity. The military is a symbol of some urgent whims (of nations) and it is in this field that governments and nations are ready to invest heavily, prompting scientists to move ahead and bring about remarkable changes. Today, considering conditions prevailing in the world and Iran and available facilities of our country, it is most appropriate for us to take advantage of temporal conditions of our country in this regard. When we look at the past one hundred years, we see amazing achievements a lot of which is rooted here. However, when it comes to atomic and space technology we lag behind other countries and our current position by no means matches our capabilities. Today, pioneer industries are related to information technology, which is mainly concerned with aerospace. On the other hand, biotechnology pertains to extremely small particles and most of its studies are related to human beings and the earth. These sciences are tools for becoming dominant in the modern world and any country devoid of such sciences will lag behind in terms of civilization.

For these reasons, we paid much attention to this subject during the Holy Defense (Iran-Iraq War 1980 – 1988) and took basic measures during the reconstruction period whose pace, in my opinion, has relatively slowed down. With regard to airplane manufacturing industries we came to the conclusion that without this industry we will be deprived of many global advances. Just like automobile industry, which has led to considerable progress and creation of new jobs airplane manufacturing industries have taken a long stride in this direction. Western countries were not willing to work with us directly. We were considering a combination of Western and Eastern technology for manufacturing Iran-140 plane, which was realized to a large extent and a complaint I have here is that though we have manufactured this plane, those who are responsible for using it avoid doing so. Maybe this is due to economic or technical considerations, but if we are not ready to take risks, we won’t progress; it takes both valor and generosity. We have taken very good steps with regard to missile industries because we had difficulties in purchasing military equipment and today we are among countries with basic missile technology. We design missiles ourselves although our pace is relatively slow and we must accelerate the process because we have both the manpower and necessary technology. During long discussions at the Supreme National Security Council we came to the conclusion that we must develop satellite industries. Unfortunately, some circles say it is not economical. They are unaware that money and economy are not issues here. Rather it is a matter of pride and power of our country and presence in fundamental issues of the world. Our pace has been very slow in this field and what should have been done, for example, seven years ago is getting momentum only recently. It needs special attention. Outwardly expert discussions are not adequate and basic and scientific support is needed. We must not sit and do nothing in the hope that other countries will launch satellites. We must progress. We have been very active in the field of military airplanes, which are among the main empowering tools in the world. Manufacture of helicopters is very important both during war and for civil services they provide. Another important issue is anti-chopper mines. All these topics are related to your field. Our scientists and universities cannot ignore this issue. Aerospace will remain as one of the most important phenomena of our age for years to come and has a deep influence on military and non-military sciences. Today we know to what extent these sciences influence people’s lives as well as their decisions and plans.

Those who think about capturing skies treat aerospace issues in a different manner. Considering available grounds in the country, suitable facilities and requirements of our armed forces, our air industries, both airplane manufacturing and maintenance should have the upper hand in this regard.