Israel To Launch "Eye In The Sky" Over Iran

Courtesy of: Reuters News
By Ori Lewis
Tue Apr 25, 2006

Jerusalem (Reuters)--Israel is set to launch on Tuesday a highly accurate imaging satellite which will enhance its ability to spy on Iran, a report in the mass circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said this week that the nuclear program being pursued by arch-foe Iran was the most serious threat faced by Jews since the Nazi threat.

"The capabilities of the satellite speak for themselves. I do not need to say anything about what the purpose of its use might be," Shimon Eckhaus, the chief executive of the manufacturer ImageSat International told Reuters.

The Eros B satellite has a camera which can decipher objects on the ground as small as 70 centimeters (about 2 feet) across, the report said. Eckhaus confirmed the accuracy of the published details to Reuters.

The report said Eros B will Join an earlier version of the satellite, launched in December 2000. Both are set to augment the work of Israel's declared spy satellite Ofek 5, which regularly passes over Arab territory.

The Yedioth report said that Israel was planning to send up another spy satellite with the ability to view objects in all weather conditions and in darkness. The Eros satellites are effective only in daylight and in clear visibility.

LAUNCHED FROM RUSSIA
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Like its predecessor in 2000, Eros B is set to be launched from the Svobodny Cosmodrome in the Russian Federation Far East on Tuesday using a Russian Start-1 rocket.

It will orbit the Earth at a height of about 310 miles and will circle the globe roughly every 95 minutes, ImageSat said.

The Eros B satellites, which weigh under 770 lb, are among a number of small, lightweight satellites which Israel's Space Industry has perfected, Eckhaus said.

Because of the country's geographical location and small size, the space industry generally favors smaller payloads that can more easily be launched from Israeli territory.

"The fact that we are launching the satellite in Russia means that we can do so with the Earth's rotation and makes it more effective and gives it a longer life span," Eckhaus said.

Israel is only able to launch small satellites westwards over the Mediterranean Sea--opposite the Earth's rotation--Because it cannot risk rockets flying over its Arab neighbors to the east or debris falling on their territory.

The satellite manufacturer ImageSat International is partly owned by government-held Israel Aircraft Industries, the country's biggest defense company.

Source:
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-04-25T110015Z_01_L25689903_RTRUKOC_0_US-ISRAEL-SATELLITE.XML