On 19.9.1998 Israel has launched the first Israeli Satellite, "Ofek 1", which was built and developed in Israel. The launch was preformed by using the Israeli Satellite launcher - "Shavit". The launch was an Israeli declaration of sorts, on its intention of entering the space era, and on joining the group of eight countries who launched home-made satellites on their own.

On 16.5.1996, Israel has successfully launched the "Amos 1" Satellite, on the European launcher Arian. On 10.7.1998, Israeli launched the "Gorwin 2 – Texat" satellite (The Technion's Asher Institute Satellite Project), on a Russian Satellite launcher. "Ofek 2" was launched on 1990, "Ofek 3" on April 1995, on the "Shavit" Launcher. "Ofek 5" was launched on May 2002.

Israel has launched 5 "Ofek" Satellites ("Ofek 4" failed). Israel has also launched 2 student's satellites, the commercial satellite "Eros" launched from Russia, and another on a European launcher launched from South-America. There are 4 additional active satellites in space ("Ofek" and "Amos"), communication satellites, meteorological research satellites and mapping and imaging satellites. Israel is about to launch additional satellites and another astronaut, after a proper experiment to be operated by an Israeli astronaut is defined. The "Amos 2" satellite is still in the development process.

"Ofek 5"

On May 28th 2002, Israel has launched the advanced spy satellite "Ofek 5" on the Israeli satellite launcher "Shavit". The new satellite is supposed to relay high resolution pictures of the entire Middle-East area.

The countdown for the "Ofek" satellite started on the early morning, under the supervision of the engineering teams of the "Mabat" and "Malam" companies, and the IAI – the developers of the satellites and launchers.

The countdown was postponed several times, and it was reinitiated time and time again. The final preparations were completed and on18:25 "Shavit" broke lose, and soared in the sky with "Ofek 5" on its bow, heading west. Due to Israel's geographical location, the "Shavit" was launched to fly westwards, so that in case of a malfunction, it would not fall into enemy hands. This fact made a necessity for the developers to build very powerful engines.

Both rocket engines, a development of the Israeli Military Industry's "Giv'on" factory, brought the launcher to an altitude of 110 km. From that altitude on, while drifting, the launcher reached an altitude of 250 km. and positioned itself for canopy release. After the canopy separation, the main instrument pod was separated, and the third phase engine (developed by Raphael) ignited. When the engine depleted, it separated and the satellite remained at an altitude of 260 km.

When the "Shavit" launcher completed its mission, the "Ofek" ground station, located in the Mabat factory in Yahud, came into play. This station was the center for monitoring the satellite's activity, and the data stream from the satellite implied it was fully functional.

When the satellite was positioned in orbit around earth, it underwent a series of tests in order to ensure its systems are in working order and its performance rates as well. The satellite carries a telescopic camera developed by "El-Op" owned by "El-bit Systems". The camera has a remote sensing capability which allows high resolution space observation. The pictures are transmitted via a data system developed by "TadiranSpectrelink".

The satellite's main mission is to monitor, identify, and provide reliable information to the Intelligence Department and the Defense Community, regarding hostile foreign countries' army's movements, and other additional intelligence information.

Even though "Ofek" completes a full orbit once every hour and a half, the earth's revolution and the changes in the satellite's trajectory, the satellites returns to its point of origin only once every two days. In order to compensate and backup the information lost during this period, the Ministry of Defense uses the civilian satellite "Eros".

"Ofek 5" is considered a small and light satellite. Its weight during the launch is 300 kgm, its height is 2.3 meters, and it diameter is 1.2 meters. Due to the increase in its weight, the size of the telescopic camera increases as well. The satellite will move in low orbit around earth, in altitudes between 370 and 600 km. The size of the lens and the distance from earth will dictate the level of the pictures' resolutions. The estimation is that the camera would be able to identify objects smaller than 1 meter in diameter.

"Ofek 5" replaced "Ofek 3", which ended its function in space.

Amos 1

On May 1996, the Israeli Communications satellite Amos was launched and took a geostationary orbit course, on the French "Arian 4" missile. This satellite allows the relay of television broadcasts and telephone communication, and it is the fruit of the a joint cooperation between European and Israeli companies.

"Amos" class satellites are a family of light communication satellites controlled and monitored from earth. The satellites are used for local and regional communications, and provide advanced services of broadcast and communication of voice and data.

Amos 2

On December 27th 2003, the Israeli "Amos 2" satellite was launched. The satellite was launched on the Suyuz-Frigat launcher, which also serves Russia in its manned missions to space. Recently, the launcher launched the research spacecraft Mars Express, quite successfully. Even though the missile is Russian, the launch sequence was conducted by a private company – the Russian government and the Arain Company are members of these company.

The launch brought the satellite into a relatively low orbit, and the satellite has increased altitude by igniting its engines for short intervals of time every full orbit. After a week it reached its 36,000 km target altitude, matching its speed with the earth's revolution, thus it remains in a the relative static position with earth.

The satellite provides services to many companies in the country, such as the National Broadcast Authority, The Israeli Educational Television Network, the Satellite television broadcast company YES, the government and many more. Amos 2 will serve as an auxiliary satellite for Amos 1.

Eros

On December 2000 the civilian imaging satellite "Eros A1" was launched on the "Start 1" launcher, from the "Cosmodrom" launch site, in Sbobodni, Siberia. The satellite was launched to a sun-synchronized orbit at an altitude of 480 km. "Eros A1" is the lightest commercial high-resolution imaging satellite, weighing only 250 kg. It was designed for providing high quality digital imaging for a wide range of commercial applications.

The satellite will serve agriculture engineers, urban architects, and other professionals who need highly detailed pictures of various locations all over the world – but it could also provide pictures for intelligence purposes.

"Eros A1" was planned, built and checked by the IAI "Mabat" factory, which is specialized with high-resolution satellite imagery.  

The satellite's light weight ensures maximal flexibility and stability, thus providing high-quality imagery in large quantities – and in competitive prices. Satellites moving in a sun-synchronized orbit are optimal for applications which require reviewing changes on the face of the earth, because they complete an orbit every 24 hours, thus passing the any given point in their orbit at the same time of day.

The owner of the satellite is Image-Sat International, which is a sub-company of IAI. The company is an international satellite company, which utilizes unique and advanced technologies for developing and marketing information services and spatial geography products. These services are provided by using an array of high-resolution imagery commercial satellites that are due to be stationed in orbit during the coming years in a sun-synchronized orbit.

This will provide easy, quick and effective access to the information supplied by the imagery satellite. This information will enable us to locate and view every point on earth in great detail. Image-Sat has developed a combined program which raises the information flow efficiency, and turns it into a functional and solidified process. The 14 ground stations included in the program "download" the picture files from the satellites, process them and store them. The pictures are available to users worldwide only several hours after they're received, by using meta and data system, and by using the ImageNet distribution network.