The lecture took place on February 2.2.06, XNUMX at the Dan Panorama Hotel in Tel Aviv
Avi Blizovsky (transcription and adaptation to the website)
Moshe Kerat's lecture happened at the conference of the Economic-Industrial Club of Ashona in a public event since the affair. The lecture dealt with Israel's (and the aerospace industry's) role in space. Kerat did not refer to other issues, Major General David Hebrew who introduced him referred to this (see at the end)
"Recently we celebrated 100 years of aviation and the space opened about fifty years after the first plane flew. . We saw the beginning of the breakthrough into space in the mid-2003s. First the Soviet Union and then the USA with a great effort caught up with the USA. In the US, space is a central component of national security. In the war in Iraq in 60, the USA operated about XNUMX observation, navigation and communication satellites.
"In the years 1998-2004, about 600 satellites were launched into space, and in the last two years alone, about 150 satellites were launched. The number of countries involved in space has increased from 4 countries at the end of the 60s to about 40 countries today."
"Israel is constantly struggling with defining strategic depth. Not only does Israel have no strategic depth, it also has no strategic breadth. The only dimension that can give Israel strategic depth is height or space. "
"Approximately 25 years ago, against the background of the peace agreement with Egypt and against the background of a new look at the map of the Middle East, the need for Israel's entry into space was recognized as a strategic depth dimension. The capability in space frees the State of Israel from geographical limitations and enables it to have global capabilities in the fields of observation and communication. The State of Israel began to invest the thought and consolidated the ability in a relatively short period of time Israel entered the club of countries with a proven ability to develop, manufacture and launch satellites. This is an important strategic ability of its kind. Six-seven years ago when we started to deal more seriously with the space issue, I thought to myself that in a multi-year plan I would be very happy to see sales in the space field in the State of Israel amounting to 100 million dollars. It seems an impossible dream to achieve. I am happy that this year, in 2005, the Israeli space industry, of which the aerospace industry is at the center, sold about 150 million dollars, and for 2006, the forecast shows sales of 200 million dollars. That is, development at a very fast pace. It is a heavy burden that requires serious organization, special disciplines and penetration into a very demanding, closed and exclusive market."
Israel's milestones in space
* In 1981 Prime Minister Mr. Menachem Begin approved Israel's entry into space. A space program directorate was established at the Israel Defense Forces, headed by Brigadier General Dr. Haim Ashad.
* At the initiative of the Minister of Science, Prof. Yuval Naaman, the government decided in 1983 to establish SLA, the Israeli Space Utilization Agency. SLA is the official agency for space activities in Israel.
* In 1984, it was decided to establish the national knowledge center on space at the Israel Air Force Base, and a contract was signed between the Israel Air Force Base and the Israel Defense Forces for the development of infrastructure and the first observation satellite project. A project administration was established at the TA, headed for many years by Dr. Moshe Bar-Lev.
* The cornerstone for the Space Combinations and Experiments Center at TEA was laid in 1986. That's when we established the Israeli space base located in Yehud.
* On the basis of the infrastructure and knowledge created in the Moshebat program, the TAA decided to enter the field of communication satellites and in 1992, self-financed, launched the Amos1 project.
* In 2003, the first Israeli astronaut, the late Ilan Ramon, was launched on a scientific mission in an American space shuttle.
If you compare the investments in the field of space - in 2004, the USA invested 35 billion dollars, which is 120 dollars per capita or 0.3 percent of GDP. France invested $2.8 billion ($50 per capita) which is 0.17 percent. Israel, on the other hand, invested 0.06 billion dollars, which is 10 dollars per capita or 0.04 percent of GDP.
What are Israel's main centers of activity in space?
A prominent field of activity is observation satellites from the Ofek series, from the Eros series which is an Ofek satellite in a civilian outfit. The TECHSAR satellite, which is the next satellite, the ground stations, the launchers, and of course the communication satellites - Amos 1 and Amos 2 which are already in space, Amos 3 which is on its way to space and will be launched in 2007 and there are more satellites on the way (the slide said military communication satellite). Israel recently entered into a partnership with the Chal Tzafrat agency to develop micro satellites for both civilian and military programs. In the field of satellites, we cover both communication satellites and the field of observation satellites. Because of the budget limitations and the launch limitations, they are relatively small satellites compared to other satellites in the world, but with very high performance. The ratio between investment and weight and performance is a ratio that has no example in the world.
At the center of the space industry is the missile division of the Aerospace Industry Center. Today, the State of Israel employs about a thousand workers in the space industry, but the aerospace industry is not the only one that operates in the space field. Al Op supplies the telescopes, Elishara, Tadiran Spectralink, TAS, Rocar Acubit and Rafael. In addition, there are three other factories within the aviation industry that contribute to the space industry - Malam in the launchers, Elta Bellvin Texar, and Tamm in the field of control.
Some of the launches that were made were not successful, but on the other hand, it is important to note that all the satellites that entered the orbit, that is, passed the launch successfully, were XNUMX percent complete in their mission. There was no failure of any satellite when it reached space. I think this is a remarkable achievement. Each of the satellites played their role to the best of their abilities.
In 1998 and 1990 we had two test launches of Ofek 1 and Ofek 2. In 1995 we launched Ofek 3 which stayed in space for five years. In 1996, we launched Amos 1, which still operates today without problems, in 1998, the Technion Texat 2 satellite was launched
The road map - in the near future, Eros B, the second satellite in the series, is going to be launched, a Texar satellite that has a Ted SAR, Ofek 7, Amos 3, another Texar satellite and military communication satellites in a later period, and as a number of launchers, all this is accompanied by the infrastructure supported by the ground stations. In other words, we see a quite ambitious, comprehensive and diverse plan, and of course our ability to sell satellites to foreign customers is not mentioned here.
The Taksar satellite is based on a radar platform. This has an unusual advantage because observation satellites with a telescope-camera can only take pictures during the day. Texar satellites can take pictures both day and night and in any weather. This gives a huge advantage to the satellite and lately the capabilities that can be obtained from the SAR technology are amazing capabilities. This is an image of Letron, not from the satellite but it was taken with a SAR radar camera from an airplane. We believe that the images from the satellite with the SAR detector will give images with such a resolution and even more.
Amos satellites are communication satellites. The Amos 2 satellite has a beam in MAZ, a beam in Europe and a beam on the east coast of the USA. Amos 3 will be launched in 2007 at the end of the days of Amos 1.
A spin off of the technology. The Aerospace Industry concentrates on the planning and construction of the satellites and ground stations, while the service is provided by subsidiaries - the older Challel, which provides the service in the fields of communication both in Israel and in Europe, and the ISI company, which was established after Challel, provides satellite image services to customers all over the world, which allow us to leverage the technologies we have developed for the civil sector as well .
Entering the space club is very difficult. I tried to sell an item to a European satellite company and they did not want to purchase because we had no tradition in space. Only after we had 5-6 satellites did we have enough experience and were able to enter into a number of collaborations, the most prominent of which is the Galileo program that is now underway and we are partners in some parts of it, as well as micro satellites in collaboration with the French Space Agency, an agreement signed in 2005 for the development of micro A satellite for different and diverse uses (Venus). I hope that there will be more collaborations because this way new horizons also open up for us.
The launch issue is no less important than the production of satellites. The first successful launch was carried out in 1988 and since then we have had a reasonable, good capability, not everything we can launch from here, but what we must launch from here we have the ability to do so.
To summarize: Israel has developed a space industry with the aerospace industry at its center, in the field of space Israel has developed independence, the performance of the space systems developed are first class in the world and have resulted in international recognition and partnerships.
The development of the space industry in Israel is a scientific technological engine for the Israeli industry as a whole. We have the capabilities, the manpower, but the continued development and advancement of the space industry requires increased government support for research and development and technological infrastructure, as is done in the leading countries in the space field. I hope that when the new government is formed after the elections, we will receive a listening ear and be able to deepen our grip on space.
The Hebrew champion encourages Moshe Kerat
Major General (Res.) David Evri, former commander of the Air Force and Chairman of the Air Industry, addressed this directly to the Director General of the Air Industry, Moshe Kerat: "Your path was not always a bed of roses. These days you also feel the thorns. We cherish you for your great contribution to the country, as a person and as a Zionist, and you will always be able to count us among your friends."
The large crowd, which consisted of the Technion's president, Professor Yitzhak Apluig, Oded Tira, chairman of the Centenary Club of the Technion's graduates, Major General (res.) Amos Horev, chairman of the Technion Association in Israel and the heads of the economy and economy in Israel, cheered loudly and many rose to their feet. Moshe Kerat, very excited in his first public appearance since a police investigation was opened against him, delivered the main speech at the event on the space industry in Israel.
The event was held in collaboration with the Industrial-Commercial Club and the Technion's Century Chamber.
