Israel launches new satellite into orbit to gather intelligence on activities of Iran.
In order to gather intelligence data on the activities of Iran regarding their dream to create an atomic bomb, Israel has launched a technology into an orbit.
The Defense Ministry of Israel confirmed the information after the launching of the satellite — the Ofek 11.
This was done on Tuesday where Israel launched a new spy satellite to gather intelligence on Iran and other regional adversaries.
According to the Ministry, they launched the Ofek-11 reconnaissance satellite into orbit from an air force base in central Israel.
At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, tt was shot into space from the Palmachim Air Base, just outside the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion.
The Israel Aerospace Industries satellite was launched using a Shavit rocket, a space launch vehicle which was designed only inside Israel.
Later, the Defense Ministry said the new device was not acting in “the expected manner.”
“The satellite entered an orbit around the globe, was contacted, and its systems are being analyzed,” the Defense Ministry said in a brief statement.
Amnon Harari, director of the ministry’s space administration, later said the satellite “isn’t acting exactly in the expected manner,” and that efforts are underway “to stabilize it.” This was released without elaborating about the specific nature of the technology.
Behind this development, two security officials of Israel revealed some details about the satellite.
An official said the Ofek 11 is the country’s “most sophisticated spy satellite to date.” Another official said it can transmit high resolution images in color and relay images from nearly anywhere around the world.
The two security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media aiming to gather some details.
The Ofek-11 is an upgrade from the Ofek-10 satellite launched by the country in April 2014. It will join the approximately 10 other satellites, including the Ofek-10, Ofek-9, Ofek-7 and Ofek-5, that feed intelligence to the security forces of Israel.
The satellite launch comes less than two weeks after the civilian Amos-6 communications satellite was destroyed when the SpaceX rocket carrying it exploded on the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida.