{"id":10493,"date":"2023-03-30T21:49:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T13:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/israel-launches-radar-spy-satellite-into-retrograde-orbit\/"},"modified":"2023-03-30T21:49:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T13:49:23","slug":"israel-launches-radar-spy-satellite-into-retrograde-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/israel-launches-radar-spy-satellite-into-retrograde-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel launches radar spy satellite into retrograde orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_61581\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61581\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-61581\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331shavit.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331shavit.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331shavit-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331shavit-678x451.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331shavit-768x511.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-61581\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israel\u2019s Ofek 13 radar spy satellite lifted off aboard an Israeli-built Shavit 2 launch vehicle. Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Israel\u2019s military launched a radar spy satellite March 28 from an air base south of Tel Aviv, adding an all-weather observation sentinel to the country\u2019s fleet of intelligence-gathering spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>A solid-fueled Shavit 2 launcher delivered the Ofek 13 spy satellite into a retrograde orbit after heading west from the&nbsp;Palmachim test range. The three-stage rocket flew over the Mediterranean Sea, accelerating against the direction of Earth\u2019s rotation to avoid soaring above densely populated areas and dropping spent rocket casings stages on land.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defense reported the Shavit 2 rocket lifted off from the Palmachim air base at 2310 UTC (7:10 p.m. EDT) on March 28, or 2:10 a.m. local time March 29. Israeli officials did not announce the launch ahead of time, keeping with long-standing secrecy about the country\u2019s military spy satellite program.<\/p>\n<p>After firings by the Shavit 2\u2019s first and second stage motors, the rocket coasted to the proper altitude for injection of the Ofek 13 satellite into orbit. The Shavit 2\u2019s upper stage spun up to stabilize the rocket during the third stage burn, which accelerated the Ofek 16 satellite to orbital velocity. The orbital parameters were not released by Israeli officials or the U.S. military, but previous Ofek spy satellites have flown in orbits a few hundred miles above Earth with inclinations of about 141 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ofek 13 satellite is a radar observation satellite with advanced capabilities, with the ability to photograph in dark and cloudy conditions,\u201d Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry said in a statement. \u201cUpon entering orbit around the Earth, the satellite will undergo a series of tests designed to verify its integrity and level of performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The satellite was built by Israel Aerospace Industries, and the Shavit 2 launcher is powered by solid-fueled motors produced by Tomer and Rafael, both Israeli defense contractors. IAI is the lead contractor overseeing the Shavit rocket program, which has accomplished 12 orbital launch attempts since 1988, with 10 successful flights. The Shavit rocket was derived from Israeli\u2019s Jericho ballistic missile.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WliJr4a5dlQ\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Ofek means \u201chorizon\u201d in Hebrew, while Shavit translates to \u201ccomet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before the March 28 launch, Israel\u2019s most recent domestic satellite launch occurred in July 2020. A commercially-owned, Israeli-built optical Earth-imaging satellite launched from California in December on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. That satellite, owned by ImageSat International and built by IAI, will collect imagery for use by the Israeli government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe successful launch of the satellite is yet another important example of the Israeli defense establishment\u2019s groundbreaking innovation,\u201d said Yoav Galant, Israel\u2019s defense minister. \u201cIsrael has already proved its diverse space capabilities many times and is one of very few countries to possess such capabilities \u2014 capabilities that we continue to develop and strengthen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to prove that even the sky isn\u2019t the limit for the Israeli defense establishment and that we continue to enhance its capabilities in every dimension in the face of various challenges,\u201d Galant said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Israel Defense Forces\u2019 secretive Unit 9900 is also involved in the Ofek spy satellite program. Unit 9900 is responsible for collecting airborne and satellite imagery for visual overhead intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Defense Ministry said the Ofek 13 satellite began transmitting telemetry data to ground teams after entering orbit, confirming its health immediately following launch.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_61580\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61580\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-61580\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331ofek13.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"638\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331ofek13.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331ofek13-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331ofek13-678x360.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/20230331ofek13-768x408.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-61580\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Ofek 13 satellite, with its radar antenna folded up in launch configuration. Credit: Israel Aerospace Industries \/ Israel Ministry of Defense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOfek 13 is a SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite with the most advanced capabilities of its kind, entirely developed in Israel,\u201d said Avi Berger, head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense space and satellite administration. \u201cThe launch was successful, according to plan. Initial indications from the satellite are also very good. Within the coming weeks, we will complete technical tests and receive the first pictures before delivering the satellite for operational use by the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The satellite will unfurl its radar antenna reflector before commencing regular operations. The mesh-like reflector was folded up for launch to fit inside the payload fairing of the Shavit 2 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfek 13 will join the additional Ofek satellites that the Ministry of Defense and the IDF have operated in space for many years,\u201d Berger said in a statement. \u201cA SAR satellite will allow, among other things, day and nighttime imaging capabilities, and will drastically improve Israel\u2019s intelligence capabilities from space for years to come.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israel\u2019s Ofek 13 radar spy satellite lifted off aboard an Israeli-built Shavit 2 launch vehicle. Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense Israel\u2019s military launched a radar spy satellite March 28 from an air base south of Tel Aviv, adding an all-weather observation sentinel to the country\u2019s fleet of intelligence-gathering spacecraft. A solid-fueled Shavit 2 launcher delivered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[159,1672,1673,25,257,1674,1675,1676],"class_list":["post-10493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-earth-observation","tag-israel","tag-israel-aerospace-industries","tag-launch","tag-military-space","tag-ofek-13","tag-palmachim","tag-rafael"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}