Israel launched the Ofek 9 intelligence satellite into space this evening

The satellite was launched from the air force base in Palmahim and until the writing of these lines it was reported that the launch was successful and that the satellite began to transmit a life signal. Its launch brings to 6 the number of Israeli photography satellites in space at the same time

Israel successfully launched the Ofeq 9 (Ofeq 9) intelligence satellite this evening (June 22) shortly after 22:00 PM from the Palmachim Air Force base. The launch was carried out on an improved Shavit model launcher. The weight of the satellite - about 300 kilograms lower than that of average photography satellites because it is necessary to compromise on weight when trying to launch from Israel, due to the need to launch in the opposite direction to the movement of the Earth - from east to west instead of west to east as the space powers do.

It was reported that all three stages were ignited as planned and so was the separation of the satellite from the launcher. At around 11 o'clock the first signal from the Ofek 9 satellite was received after passing over Israel for the first time and it is believed that the success of the transmission indicates a good opening of the solar collectors and antennas. Within a few hours the satellite will reach its final orbit at an altitude of 400 km.
In the midnight news flash on Channel 2, military reporter Nir Davori said that the launch was successful and the satellite is already in orbit and starting to deploy the solar collectors and other instruments. Within four days, the first pictures taken by the satellite in space should arrive, and then it will be possible to calibrate its instruments.

Six photography satellites simultaneously in space

Ofek 9 is the twin of the Ofek 7 and Ofek 5 satellites. The Ofek 5 satellite launched in 2002 is about to end its service in about two years after a decade in space. Ofek 7 was launched in 2007 and the launch of Ofek 9 will allow diversification of goals and viewing times. In total, in the coming period three military photography satellites from the Ofek series, two civilian photography satellites from the Eros series, and the TecSAR radar photography satellite, which was successfully launched from India in January 2008, and actually fulfills the role of Ofek 8 for the Ministry of Defense, will be in space at the same time. The more satellites there are in space, the more frequently it is possible to observe the important targets for Israeli intelligence and it is needless to say that many such points are in Iran. As you remember, the Ofek 4 and Ofek 6 satellites fell into the sea due to launch failures.

Israel Aerospace Industries is the main contractor building the Oak satellites and the Comet launcher. Elbit and Alup are developing the high-resolution imaging camera.