Chinese at a space show, last week. The third space power in the world
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Israel has a small space agency, but an impressive presence
The size of the Israeli space agency is ridiculous compared to the space agencies of other countries that have satellites in space. The agency consists of four employees and is subordinate to the Ministry of Science. In early 2002, the Ministry of Finance cut two-thirds of the agency's three-year budget. After the cut, the agency's annual budget amounted to NIS 4.5 million instead of NIS 16 million. Despite this, Israel has an impressive presence in the field of space. The cooperation between Israel and the United States was upgraded with the entry of the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the Columbia disaster, into the American space program.
About two weeks ago, "Amos 2" was successfully launched into space. The satellite is a second generation of Israeli communication satellites, manufactured by the aerospace industry. "Amos 2" provides satellite communication services. With the success of the launch, two Israeli communication satellites of the "Amos" series will operate in space. The "Amos 1" satellite was launched in '96 and according to the plan will end its operation in 2008. Israel has launched several satellites in the past, including the "Ofek" series of satellites as well as "Eros", a civilian electro-optical photography satellite.
Japan and Russia are in decline
Two space powers in retreat are Japan and Russia. Russia, rich in space experience, has been suffering from a lack of budgets for a long time. In the last two years, the Russian space agency has sold two trips to space for $20 million per trip, in an attempt to balance its dwindling budget.
Russia has an important part in the construction of the International Space Station, but Russian officials have claimed in recent months that they are not sure that Russia will meet its obligations. The Director of the Russian Space Agency, Yuri Koptev, said last April that "If we do not finish the construction of the Russian part of the International Space Station, we can forget about Russia's space programs. The Americans will have their part, the Japanese will have their part and we will serve as spacecraft drivers."
However, it turns out that Japan's situation is not much better. The Japanese space agency's attempt to place a satellite in orbit around Mars has failed. The last attempt by the Japanese to launch two spy satellites into space ended with the explosion of the rocket carrying them and the loss of 92 million dollars.
The Japanese space agency employs only 1,800 people and its budget is estimated at about a tenth of NASA's budget - 1.6 billion dollars.
For comparison, China invested about 2.2 billion dollars in a single mission to launch Tikonaut into space.
Yuval Dror
Yidan Israel in space
Space operations outside the USA
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