Officials said Ofeq-9, termed by the ministry an "advanced-technology
remote-sensing satellite," has a high resolution of less than 0.70
meters. They said the satellite, which on June 23 began transmission to a
ground station in Israel, joins three other military space platforms and the
two Eros-class dual-use facilities, all of which were produced by the
state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
"The launch today is a technological and operational achievement,"
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. "Few states, especially those the
size of Israel, are capable of handling such a complex challenge. The
success of the launch is an expression of the valor, doctrine, and extensive
capabilities of the Israeli defense industry and security establishment."
The launch of Ofeq was also said to mark an Israeli warning to Teheran
that the Jewish state could attack Iran's nuclear weapons program. Officials
said Teheran believes that Israeli satellites were capable of persistent
monitoring of Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons sites.
"To use retaliation as the main strategy means to sit idly and wait
until the enemy comes to attack you," former Mossad director Shabtai Shavit
told a forum on June 21. "But we are dealing with an enemy that plans all
the time and waits for the opportunity to arise in order to attack. So what
is the point, even morally, to wait and do something only when we are
attacked?"
Officials said Ofeq-9, which included systems from such Israeli
contractors as Elbit Systems, Elisra, Israel Military Industries, Rafael
Advanced Defense Systems, Tadiran-Spectralink, did not represent a
technological breakthrough. They said the 300-kilogram platform, sent into
orbit by the Israeli-origin Shavit space launch vehicle and designed to
complete earth orbit every 90 minutes, contained a similar reconnaissance
payload to that of Ofeq-7, launched three years ago.
In addition to Ofeq-9 and Ofeq-7, Israel has been operating the TechSar
synthetic aperture radar, Ofeq-5 and the dual-use Eros-B satellites.
Officials said the Defense Ministry was planning for the launch of the
Opsat-3000 by 2013. Opsat, which marks a $300 million project, was said to
contain an advanced payload with a high resolution of less than 0.50 meters.
"Anyone watching us will certainly have reason to fear," Israel Air
Force Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Nimrod Sefer said on July 23.
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