The vision of the Israel Space Agency, according to the new chairman, Colonel (res.) Yitzhak Ben-Israel: to expand Israel's comparative advantage and place it in the group of five leading countries in the world in space exploration and utilization
By: Avi Blizovsky, Galileo
When General (res.) and now Professor Yitzhak Ben Israel were approached and asked if he would agree to take on the position of Chairman of the Israel Space Agency (officially known as SLA, the Space Utilization Agency), his tendency was to answer in the negative. However, when it became clear to him that it was the replacement of Prof. Yuval Neman, he agreed.
"I enlisted in the IDF after the Six Day War as a reserve and went to study physics at Tel Aviv University. In those years, Yuval Neman was the most worthy of emulation. Also as someone who founded the physics faculty at the university and predicted the existence of the omega minus - a discovery that made him a world-renowned scientist. And also because he previously had a military past as one of the fundamental principles of the Israeli security concept; Really a cluster man. For me it is a great honor to replace him." He says in an interview with "Galileo" upon assuming the position of Chairman of the Space Agency.
During his service in the Air Force, Yitzhak Ben Israel held positions in the operations, intelligence and development system. Among other things, he was the head of the performance research branch in the Air Force, the head of the research department in Air Force Intelligence and the head of R&D (research and development) in the IDF and the Ministry of Defense. In January 98, he was promoted to the rank of Major General as head of the Ministry of Defense (research and development of weapons of war and technological infrastructure). Today, Prof. Ben Israel is the head of the security studies program at Tel Aviv University, so the academic career he started in 2002 is also in the field of security strategy and physics, he leaves it to the young. He has also been interested in space since the age of eight, in 1957, when he watched from the yard of his parents' house in the Aviv HaShima fortress to try to see the light reflected from the Sputnik satellite. But now he will outline the strategy of the State of Israel in the field of space, which he intends to nationalize. His answer to our question as to whether a space expert who is suitable to be the chairman of the agency must necessarily come from a security background:
"The first years of Israel's activity in the field of space were mostly in the security field. The motivation, the budgeting, the management were all security related and only slowly, with the advancement of Israeli capability in the field, did the civilian advantages of the space field become more and more prominent. Therefore it is perhaps only natural that when you look today for people who have a background and experience you find more of them with a security background and experience. The space industry in Israel is a young industry. It started in the mid-eighties. Naturally, it settled in the defense industries, but in the twenty years since its entry into the field, these industries have focused less on security and more on overall technological developments for civilian and scientific uses. The first satellite we launched into space was a military intelligence satellite (the entire Horizon series). It wasn't long ago that the Aerospace Industry, where the expertise and know-how to build this satellite was accumulated, and the Elbit-Alup company, where the expertise and knowledge for the satellite camera was accumulated, joined together and established the Eros project, which is a purely economic civil project that competes with other companies in the world for the sale of images from space (photos). And there is, of course, a busy project that demonstrated ability in the construction and operation of communication satellites that today can be exported to many countries."
Israel needs to invest 120 million dollars a year just in the field of civil space
Another way to understand how citizenship will affect the space program is to compare us to other western countries. "Investments in space simply pay for themselves from an economic point of view, which is why many countries in the world are entering into them. We are used to saying that each country invests such and such a percentage of its GDP in security, but we do not notice that in the last 20 years all the countries we want to belong to - the West in the conceptual sense, including Japan and South Korea - invest something like between 0.05 and 0.1 percentages of their GNP in civilian space ventures. It is understood that there are countries that invest much more, such as the USA.
"In Israeli terms, if our GDP is approximately $120 billion, one tenth of one percent is approximately $120 million. It is a financial investment that will pay for itself. In the State of Israel it should have been an even higher rate: it might even be worth investing 200 million dollars per year because we are isolated. There is nothing like space to have excellent scientific and technological forces in Israel that are important to us. Otherwise all the good ones run away to places where these things can be explored. For example, at the 100th anniversary of Einstein's 'Year of the Miracle' conference at the Hebrew University, we met the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, David Gross. He finished all his degrees here, including his doctorate, and went to do a post-doc in the USA, and since then we have lost track of him, and the question is what kind of country do we want to be - a country whose David Grosses go to the USA and receive the Nobel Prize as Americans, or have somewhere to advance here and bring We have the honor as Israelis."
engage in space and not in traditional industries
"I want Israel to deal with space and not traditional industries. says Ben Yisrael. According to him, the added value of the space industry is double that of the high-tech industry: "Technological industry companies are recognized in the world in the order of 250-200 thousand dollars per year per employee. In the space industries the average is 500 thousand dollars. The added value of brains is very high. The direction is positive. It started from providing a response to security needs, moved to initiatives like Eros, and continues to Amos, for the sale of satellites: Amos 3 which was approved this month by the government and the partnership of Israeli companies in the Galileo project. This year we signed a contract called Venus - a microsatellite that we are developing for the French Space Agency. The reason the Europeans came and finally bought this satellite from us is because in the State of Israel - because of our size, our needs and our capabilities - we focused on the field of relatively small satellites. Our Horizon satellites, for example, are of the order of magnitude of 300-200 kg per satellite. You look around the world at satellites with equivalent performance and they weigh at least a ton.
"The need arose from the fact that we wanted to launch ourselves, because we wanted to make the project cheaper. The world suddenly discovered it. Why build an expensive satellite that weighs a ton and a half if you can get the same performance in a 250 kg satellite? And so the Europeans decided they wanted to enter this field. The first contract they signed was with us. The government also participates in financing, understanding that this is an area that has an economic future and should be in it, with all the other advantages: that it keeps the people, the minds".
In the document written by Ben Israel to the members of the Space Agency's steering committee, he states that "the overarching goals are to build and maintain satellite systems in space for space exploration and for Earth exploration from space; to develop the technologies, knowledge and scientific infrastructure (including laboratories, etc.) necessary for space exploration; to promote international cooperation in space exploration and utilization in order to strengthen the overall interests of the State of Israel; To act to strengthen the relationship between research and the use of space and between society in Israel."
"In order to make this vision a reality, it is necessary to engage in the following areas: satellites - including observation satellites; micro satellites; communication satellites; navigation satellites; Satellite systems in coordinated orbits Formation Flight; Also, Israel must preserve for itself a launch and propulsion capability.
In addition, Israel must encourage the development of space technologies through the establishment of a scientific, technological and industrial infrastructure in the field of space; Creating international cooperation (through agreements and treaties) in the field of space research and its utilization; promoting industrial and commercial applications of space technologies and encouraging entrepreneurship and centers of excellence in the field; Encouraging space and universe research (astronomy, space science and the Earth's environment); Leveraging space technologies to promote areas of research and activity unique to Israel such as solar energy and desert agriculture.
In the longer term, Ben Israel hopes to work to place a man in space (in collaboration with other agencies, most likely within the framework of the International Space Station); Encouraging and developing society's awareness of space issues; teaching education and working with the community of all ages; and to act to preserve the heritage and foster exhibitions and museums.
Finally, we asked Prof. Ben Israel to answer some intriguing questions. One of them is of course related to his previous position in the defense establishment, such as when will the Ofek 7 satellite be launched?
"The satellite is in the barrel. I was the head of the investigation committee for the malfunction that happened to the Ofek 6 satellite and caused it to fall into the sea. The recommendations I recommended to the Ministry of Defense were all accepted. One of their results is a slowdown in the pace of launches due to budgetary constraints, while devoting time to additional tests on the launcher before launching more satellites on it. The Ministry of Defense has a multi-year plan - at least for the next 10 years of constant launches. For a year and a half we did not hear about launches. In 2006 the program will be back on track. Redundancy is also being built within the program. In the end, when you launch - it will be a public launch, since there is a law that when you launch something into space you have to notify the UN."
Is there even a need to launch an Israeli astronaut after the disaster in which the late Ilan Ramon perished?
"I really hope we can launch a second astronaut. As it appears in our vision, perhaps through cooperation with the Americans or the Russians. There are contacts on the matter and I personally think it is very important, as it is a challenge and a symbol, especially for the youth. I can't say when, but the space agency will do everything so that it continues the breakthrough of the late Ilan Ramon. As for the International Space Station - it's a question of money, because all member countries of the station participate in the mission, so if we want to be members, we will have to participate."
