Another goal was for IAI to be released from space launch limitations.
For the last 20 years, IAI was ordered by the Israeli government to launch
satellites in a westward orbit to prevent platforms from falling into
neighboring Arab states. Non-Israeli SLV operators fire their rockets
eastward, said to be more 30 percent more effective.
Bergman said IAI, which has sought international cooperation, would
develop air-launch capabilities to increase operational flexibility. He said
this would eliminate the need for a launch site in tiny Israel as well as
provide what he termed "satellite on demand capability."
Israel's Shavit program has been successful in five out of seven
launches of the Ofeq-class military reconnaissance satellite since 1988. The
three-stage solid-fuel Shavit, measuring 21.6 meters and weighing 31 tons,
was designed by IAI and contains propulsion systems by the state-owned
Israel Military Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Bergman said IAI was testing a smaller, two-stage Shavit that could be
fired from either the cargo bay of a C-130 air transport or from the wing of
an F-15 fighter-jet. He said the Shavit, attached to a parachute, could be
ejected from a high-flying aircraft and launched into space. In 2008, IAI
conducted static wind tunnel tests in an effort to demonstrate the concept.
"Now, it [air-launch concept] is up to the decision-makers," Bergman
said.
