The Egyptian government claims that the satellite is intended for industrial, agricultural, mineral exploration, as well as urban and environmental planning, but these capabilities can also be used for military applications.
A week after the launch of the Israeli photography satellite Ofek 10, Egypt launched a satellite last night in a commercial launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. This is the second Egyptian satellite in space. It was reported from Russia that the satellite is equipped with advanced technologies used for photography in the visible and infrared light fields. The Egyptians claim that the data collected by the satellite will be used for agriculture and environmental and geographic uses.
Egyptian cabinet spokesman Hossam Al Kawish said Because the new satellite will serve the fields of agriculture, mineral exploration, planning and the environment in Egypt. Cavish added that the satellite will also help support the development of projects throughout the Arab world.
The previous Egyptian satellite was also launched from Kazakhstan in 2007 but contact with it was lost in 2011. The Egyptians said then that it was an experimental project with a maximum service life of five years.
Tal Inbar, the head of the Center for Space Research at the Fisher Institute, wrote last night on his Facebook page the launch traces: "Egypt now has an observation satellite in space with a resolution better than a meter, and also capabilities of vision in the infrared range. The gap between the satellite (made in Russia) and the Israeli satellites is still significant in many ways, but our monopoly on advanced photography satellites in the Middle East was finally broken tonight."
One response
Israel could sell a satellite to the Straits, and that way we know exactly what capabilities they have and how it is possible to escape their observation. Israel is still at an advantage because we build and launch our own technology.