{"id":14401,"date":"2017-08-17T17:27:03","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T09:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/iai-sees-demand-in-earth-observation-but-few-opportunities-in-telecom\/"},"modified":"2017-08-17T17:27:03","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T09:27:03","slug":"iai-sees-demand-in-earth-observation-but-few-opportunities-in-telecom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/iai-sees-demand-in-earth-observation-but-few-opportunities-in-telecom\/","title":{"rendered":"IAI sees demand in Earth observation, but few opportunities in telecom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Israeli-built Optsat 3000 reconnaissance satellite during launch preparations last month in French Guiana. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fresh off the successful launch and initial checkout of two of its spacecraft earlier this month, Israel\u2019s top satellite manufacturer sees a robust global market for new low-altitude reconnaissance payloads, but little international demand for its communications satellites.<\/p>\n

Israel Aerospace Industries built two satellites that launched together Aug. 2 on a European Vega rocket from French Guiana.<\/p>\n

One of the payloads, named Optsat 3000, will collect high-resolution surveillance imagery for the Italian military, while the other satellite, named Ven\u00b5s, is part of a French-Israeli project to track the health of vegetation.<\/p>\n

The double launch symbolized IAI\u2019s recent growth in the field of Earth observation satellites, particularly in the construction of satellites for foreign governments. The successful Vega liftoff with Optsat 3000 and Ven\u00b5s came 11 months after the the last Israeli-built communications satellite \u2014 Amos 6 \u2014 was destroyed in the explosion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a countdown rehearsal at Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

Since the loss of Amos 6, a satellite IAI sold to Israeli-owned Spacecom Ltd., the manufacturer\u2019s communications satellite line has remained dormant.<\/p>\n

Opher Doron, general manager of IAI\u2019s space division, said discussions with Spacecom and the Israeli government on a new homemade communications spacecraft are still underway.<\/p>\n

IAI wants more business from the Israeli government, Doron said, just as commercial satellite manufacturers receive from their domestic governments in the United States, Europe and Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in significant discussions with the government on the need for governmental support in order to keep us alive, as governments do throughout the world in the telecom business,\u201d Doron said in an interview with Spaceflight Now. \u201cThe government\u2019s got a good understanding of that, but whether it\u2019s got the required budget for it is under debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that IAI is \u201coptimistically\u201d hoping to get started on the next Israeli communications satellite in the coming months.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s far from certain,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

If IAI wins a contract, the satellite could be another commercial Amos broadcasting and data relay craft owned by Spacecom, or it could be government-owned, Doron said.<\/p>\n

He said last year\u2019s loss of Amos 6 on the launch pad \u201cwas a big blow in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fiery explosion was dramatic and jarring, even to veterans in the space industry. For IAI, it signaled the destruction of the company\u2019s biggest-ever satellite, a design it hoped to replicate through more orders from Spacecom or international customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still reeling from that one,\u201d Doron said. \u201cIt is what it is. You\u2019re sort of braced for it during a launch, but you\u2019re really not braced for it two days before launch. That\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Amos 6 satellite during ground testing. Credit: Spacecom Ltd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spacecom has not ordered a replacement for the lost Amos 6 satellite. The company instead arranged a four-year lease of a spacecraft from AsiaSat already in orbit, for repositioning over the European and Middle East coverage area intended for Amos 6.<\/p>\n

Boeing won a contract from Spacecom late last year to build the Amos 17 communications satellite, the first time the Israeli telecom company purchased a spacecraft from a U.S. builder.<\/p>\n

While questions still hover over IAI\u2019s future in the telecom market, things look better in the Earth-imaging sector.<\/p>\n

Doron said multiple Earth observation satellites similar in design to Optsat 3000 are in the company\u2019s order book. But he identified only one of the Earth-imaging craft by name, the commercial Eros-C optical reconnaissance satellite set for launch in 2019 for ImageSat International, an Israeli imaging company.<\/p>\n

Other Earth observation satellites in IAI\u2019s backlog have been sold to other customers. When asked, Doron declined to identify their owners, or whether the satellites were for the Israeli government, foreign governments, or undisclosed commercial operators.<\/p>\n

IAI secured the contract to build the $182 million Optsat 3000 satellite for the Italian Ministry of Defense as part of a reciprocal arrangement, in exchange for the Israeli military\u2019s purchase of Italian-made jet trainers.<\/p>\n

Without specifying the exact resolution of Optsat 3000\u2019s images, Doron said it will offer \u201cWorldView-class\u201d image sharpness from its operating orbit 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth. DigitalGlobe\u2019s latest WorldView satellites have cameras capable to resolving features as small as 31 centimeters, or 12 inches, on the ground from an even higher orbit.<\/p>\n

But the WorldView satellites currently orbit were more expensive than IAI\u2019s Optsat 3000, and lighter Earth-imaging spacecraft lack the resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe generic Optsats offer 50 centimeters (resolution) from 600 kilometers, although this one will be better because it\u2019s lower, so it\u2019s super-high resolution,\u201d Doron said. \u201cThis satellite is also optimized to cover very large areas. It\u2019s very agile, so it can cover lots of targets in many areas using different scanning modes and different scanning directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Eros-C imaging satellite will have similar resolution \u2014 40 centimeters (15.7 inches) from an altitude of 500 kilometers (310 miles), according to ImageSat.<\/p>\n

Doron told Spaceflight Now he was optimistic a successful demonstration of Optsat 3000\u2019s capabilities would bolster IAI\u2019s foothold in the Earth observation satellite market, a segment in which the Israeli manufacturer competes with European builders Airbus Defense and Space and Thales Alenia Space, plus U.S.-based Space Systems\/Loral, a relative newcomer to small spacecraft tailored for remote sensing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we are in a fantastic position in the market,\u201d Doron said. \u201cWe are the world leader in resolution at this weight and price. It\u2019s a great opportunity to show that off, and having the honor to sell that to the Italian Ministry of Defense is a nice feather in our cap.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same basic satellite design flown on Optsat 3000 could also host high-resolution radar instruments to take pictures of Earth day and night, regardless of weather conditions. Optical cameras like the one on Optsat 3000 are blocked by clouds and darkness.<\/p>\n

Doron declined to discuss IAI\u2019s ongoing work to supply the Israeli government\u2019s spy satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in an upturn in the market for very high-resolution satellites,\u201d Doron said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing more and more customers in several areas of the world realizing that they need very high-resolution, very high-performance satellites, hopefully at an affordable price. Some optical, some SAR (synthetic aperture radar), and several want both, and there\u2019s a flurry of activity in that field as more and more countries realize that they need performance we can provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doron thinks IAI\u2019s capabilities in Earth observation, already on the market for several years, are starting to get more attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were premature in arriving on the scene,\u201d Doron said. \u201cThe market wasn\u2019t there a few years ago \u2026 I think we\u2019re very well-placed to do some interesting business several places in the world, with a very unique capability at the price point we\u2019re offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ven\u00b5s satellite launched in tandem with Optsat 3000 showcases the adaptability of IAI\u2019s design, according to Doron.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur bus is generic, but it undergoes small changes for different types of missions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a similar bus for Tecsar, for Optsat and for Ven\u00b5s, but instead of a huge imaging telescope, this has got a significantly smaller super-spectral telescope. It\u2019s got 12 colors in specifically chosen bands for environmental and vegetation monitoring according to the requirements of the scientific investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n

IAI is also developing a robotic lunar lander set for launch to the moon late next year, Doron said.<\/p>\n

The lunar mission is managed by SpaceIL, an Israeli startup established to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize, a competition among international teams to send a privately-funded robotic lander to the moon. SpaceIL will miss the deadline to win the $20 million grand prize due to launch delays, but the project continues.<\/p>\n

Other teams competing for the prize are under schedule pressure to complete their missions by the end of March 2018, and it\u2019s unclear if any will succeed in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing integration and some of the design for them, and it\u2019s really exciting,\u201d Doron said. \u201cWe\u2019re already working on it and integrating and getting ready for launch at the end of \u201918.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SpaceIL lander will ride into space piggyback as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, then use its own thrusters to steer toward the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Israel\u2019s got a pretty good chance of being country No. 4 to land on the moon, and that\u2019s a pretty big and exciting honor,\u201d Doron said.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Israeli-built Optsat 3000 reconnaissance satellite during launch preparations last month in French Guiana. Credit: ESA\/CNES\/Arianespace \u2013 Photo Optique Video du CSG \u2013 P. Baudon Fresh off the successful launch and initial checkout of two of its spacecraft earlier this month, Israel\u2019s top satellite manufacturer sees a robust global market for new low-altitude reconnaissance payloads, […]<\/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":[3143,291,159,3210,1672,1673,3211,3212],"class_list":["post-14401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amos-6","tag-commercial-space","tag-earth-observation","tag-eros-c","tag-israel","tag-israel-aerospace-industries","tag-optsat-3000","tag-spacecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14401"}],"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=14401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}