The defense establishment gleans intelligence from about 10 satellites, including Ofek satellites made by IAI, and commercial satellites which produce images for the Israel Defense Forces and other intelligence agencies.
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While the new satellite will begin sending images back to Israel nearly immediately, it will be several days before it is clear whether the launch has been completely successful and the satellite is in correct orbit.
“We have downloaded some figures, and we are now checking them”.
Like all previous spy satellites launched from Israel, Ofek 11 was launched westward, over the Mediterranean Sea, against Earth’s eastward rotation.
Just mere hours following the launch, officials received the first indications regarding the satellite’s condition.
Pinpointing the exact problem will take some time as they are only able to communicate with the satellite when it is in a specific position in orbit, however, they have been able to establish contact.
ARSP.B1) have successfully launched the Ofek 11 surveillance satellite from Palmahim south of Tel Aviv.
That 5.4-ton satellite was planned for launch aboard a Space-X Falcon 9 rocket two days before it exploded on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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Israel launched its last spy satellite – Ofek 10, with its synthetic aperture radar payload – in April 2014.
