The Israeli government and Israel Aerospace Industries conducted a previously-unannounced launch of a reconnaissance satellite Monday, using a Shavit-2 rocket to deploy the Ofek 16 satellite into low Earth orbit.\n<\/p>\n
Ofek 16 is a small electro-optical imaging satellite, which will capture high-resolution images of the Earth for Israel\u2019s Ministry of Defence. The name Ofek, from the Hebrew word \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05e7\u200e, meaning Horizon<\/em>, has been applied to all of Israel\u2019s military satellites regardless of their mission, including two early demonstration missions and subsequent optical and radar reconnaissance spacecraft.<\/p>\n With the launch of Ofek 1 in September 1988, Israel became the eighth country to develop its own orbital launch capability. It uses this capability exclusively for military payloads, relying on foreign rockets to carry its civilian and commercial satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n The Ofek 16 mission is the eleventh known orbital launch to have been attempted by Israel, and the country\u2019s ninth to have reached orbit. It is Israel\u2019s first launch in almost four years \u2013 the country\u2019s last launch coming in September 2016 with the Ofek 11 satellite aboard.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s launch took place at 04:00 local time (01:00 UTC) from the Palmachim airbase on Israel\u2019s coast, which has been the site of all of Israel\u2019s orbital launches. Israel\u2019s only coastline faces west onto the Mediterranean, so to avoid overflying the country\u2019s neighbors \u2013 with whom Israel has historically had tense relations \u2013 rockets fly westward and target an unusual retrograde orbit.<\/p>\n