TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran tried but failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for work that the United States says helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program.

The launch of a Simorgh rocket in Semnan Province, about 145 miles southeast of Tehran, sought to put a communications satellite into orbit. It failed because of low speed, Iranian state TV reported.

Still, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Ahmad Hosseini, portrayed the failure as a “remarkable” achievement for Iran’s space program. Previous launches of the Simorgh — or Phoenix — rocket also failed to put a satellite into orbit.

Iranian officials had been promoting the mission, and Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, head of the Communication and Information Technology Ministry, continued to do so on Sunday.