Israel's Ministry of defense and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) have successfully launched the Ofek 11 surveillance satellite from Palmahim south of Tel Aviv.
The launch comes less than two weeks after the Amos 6 communications satellite, built by IAI for Spacecom Satellite Communications Ltd. (TASE:SCC), was destroyed on the launch pad when SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded in Florida.
The launch several hours ago of the Ofek 11 satellite comes two years after the launch of Ofek 10 and will upgrade the Ministry of Defense and Israel Defense Forces surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. While the new satellite will begin sending images back to Israel almost immediately, it will be several days before it is clear whether the launch has been completely successful and the satellite is in correct orbit.
This is the seventh spy satellite launched by Israel and it will allow Israel to conduct unlimited surveillance of developments throughout the region.
Ofek 11 joins Ofek 9 and 10 in space. Ofek 9, which was launched in June 2010, is an imaging and intelligence gathering satellite developed by IAI and costing $300 million. Ofek 9 and 10 have sent back exceptional quality images and it is able to identify objects just dozens of centimeters in size. This is technology possessed by very few countries around the world.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 13, 2016
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