5000 Rials Omid Satellite

Iran's Omid ("Hope") satellite was launched in February 2009, making this note one of the faster commemorative responses in modern banknote production — the note entered circulation the same year as the launch. It marked the first domestically built Iranian satellite to reach orbit, a significant moment in the country's space program and one the government clearly wanted memorialized in currency quickly.

Thomas De La Rue handled production, as they had for much of Iran's modern currency output despite the broader political tensions of the period. Security provision remains modest for the denomination — watermark and thread only, with no optical features.