The satellite will be built by, a joint company owned by Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael, which will specialize in the development and production of microsatellites. The satellite will be called "Venus" and will be used to photograph the Earth using an advanced multi-color method as well as a test platform for electric ion propulsion technologies being developed in Israel
Avi Blizovsky
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The Israeli Space Agency signed an agreement with the French Space Agency to develop and launch a microsatellite for Earth observations called "Venus". The satellite will carry a multi-color camera and will also be used to test ion-electric propulsion technology for the purposes of stabilizing satellites in their orbits.
The satellite will be a demonstration of the type of satellites that will be operated in the GMES project. This is a program of the European Union, in which Europe decided to establish a complete infrastructure of observation satellites - including the satellites themselves and the ground stations, which will allow it to both carry out scientific research and receive information for making decisions regarding infrastructure - roads, construction, water resources, land, agriculture, predicting phenomena Drowned like the big flood that was last year.
This is a fairly large program in which approximately 3 billion euros are currently being invested.
As mentioned, the satellite systems will be a demonstration project for the type of systems that will make up the GMES. This is one of the reasons that this is a low-flying satellite that repeats its orbit twice a week, and which observes the earth on a large number of frequencies designed to monitor the development of vegetation and agricultural and nature conservation uses.
IAI and Rafael are establishing a joint subsidiary. The micro satellite market (between 100 and 200 kilograms) is a growing market. These satellites are characterized by the fact that the launch costs are very high because they can be launched as hitchhikers on large platforms or with small and inexpensive launchers on their own. Therefore, the United Nations decided a few years ago to encourage the field of microsatellites for developing countries that do not have budgets for large satellites or to purchase data from such satellites. It is a market that has the potential to be an important market in the space industry, so it is important that Israel is in it at such a stage. Israel has technological comparative advantages.
The current agreement matured from a framework agreement for cooperation in outer space research that was signed between the two space agencies back in April 1994. In 1997, it was agreed between the heads of the two agencies to promote joint activity in the field of tiny satellites. The Venus program in a format intended for development tasks and research of future applications was formulated only in December 2003 following a meeting between the heads of the French and Israeli space agencies and representatives from Israeli space industries and with the active participation of the then Minister of Science and Technology, Eliezer (Mudi) Zandberg.
The financing of the project in Israel was made possible in light of the joint recognition of the government through the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Employment-Chief Scientist as well as the heads of leading space industries in Israel of the importance of the program, and their willingness to jointly allocate the resources required for its implementation.
The two agencies in France and Israel intend to launch the microsatellite into space at the end of 2008 as an initial step to accumulate knowledge for the GMES program. The GMES program originates from a European initiative for global monitoring from space of the surface of the country for the purposes of environmental conservation and security (global monitoring environmental and security). The GMES program is now in the phase of characterizing the sensors and defining requirements. The data that will be collected as part of the Venus program will feed the teams involved in the GMES program with essential information.
The Venus program has a scientific and technological justification even for itself. As part of the program's scientific mission, the satellite will monitor the surface of the country as it is planned to visit and observe fifty sites once every two days. The observations will enable continuous monitoring of changes in vegetation, water bodies and coastlines, for the purposes of scientific research in the fields of environmental quality, water quality, vegetation, field crops and aquaculture. The photographs from a relatively low altitude with a dozen wavelengths and a spatial separation of about five meters will enrich the scientific community with detailed data in different climatic and meteorological conditions and will enable the development of ground level models and agricultural research and water quality maintenance. This is with the aim of evaluating and establishing the contribution of observations from space to the management of land conservation and supporting decisions concerning the monitoring and preservation of the environment.
At the same time, the satellite will be used to examine electric ion propulsion technology.
The Israeli Space Agency will contract for the execution of the project with a new company, which will specialize in the development and production of microsatellites, and will be jointly owned by Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael. The two companies Air Industry and Rafael, involved in the space industry, have experienced the development of space propulsion systems and other related technologies and will make the knowledge and experience they have gained available to the new company. The new company will be responsible within the framework of the "Venus" program for the construction of the satellite, the integration of the platforms, the launch satellites, the operation of the satellite, supervision and control of its trajectory and the collection of test data.
The French Space Agency will be responsible for supplying the camera, receiving the photographs and processing them, establishing the scientific center for processing and distributing the information, and establishing an archive to save the data. The data will also be kept in an identical archive that will also be established at the Israeli Space Agency. For the purpose of supplying the camera, the French agency will contact Al-Op, a company from the Elbit Group, which is designed to develop the satellite camera.
The head of the Israeli Space Agency, Dr. Zvi Kaplan, emphasized the great importance that Israel attaches to the cooperation with the French Space Agency. Witness and noted that the systemic approach underlying the "Venus" microsatellite on its systems is innovative at an international level. According to him, the success of the program will strengthen the ability of the scientific community and the Israeli space industry to integrate into additional space programs and will help Israel to integrate into pan-European programs on Earth observation issues in the fields of agriculture, water, environment and more."
Yidan Israel in space
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