Conference 7.286::space

    From NY times
    The bird is code-named OFEK (Horizon) 1, and is an experimental craft
    that is to remain in space for about a month, collecting data on solar
    energy and the earth's maganetic field, before deorbiting.
    
    Period is apx 90 min, 620x155 miles, It was launched on an Jericho-2
    medium range missle reportedly capable of carrying a warhead 900
    nautical miles.
    
    john
    

Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!labrea!agate!pasteur!ames!elroy!cit-vax!tybalt.caltech.edu!palmer
Subject: Israel joins the Space Club
Posted: 19 Sep 88 16:04:47 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology
 
    Israel launched a satellite today on their own booster, according
to a report on NPR.  In the LA Times (in an article written pre-launch), 
the Israeli government was quoted as saying, in response to reports that 
it was a spysat, that "We never said it was a spy satellite, what makes 
you think it's a spy satellite?"  (quoted very roughly from memory). 

    [I read in yesterday's BOSTON GLOBE that the satellite, launched
  on a JERICHO II rocket outside of Tel Aviv, was a weather satellite,
  though there were rumors that it also doubled as a spy satellite.
  President Shamir says he has no knowledge of such matters; his answer
  said several things to me:  That it might be a spysat, and that he
  really does have no interest in space exploration, just like numerous
  other government officials. - LK] 
 
    But at least we have a good chance of beating Andora back into space.
 
		David Palmer
		palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu
		...rutgers!cit-vax!tybalt.caltech.edu!palmer

Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!enea!erix!howard
Subject: Israeli spysat
Posted: 20 Sep 88 13:17:48 GMT
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden
 
    From articles in the 19 and 20 September 1988 issues of Dagens
Nyheter... 
 
    Israel has launched an experimental satellite that is a step
toward an advanced spysat to be launched within 2 years.  The decision
to build a spysat was made several years ago, when the Israeli
government realized that the US was not going to share imagery.  The
launcher is to be a JERICHO II medium-range missile.  The main
motivation is that Iraq and Syria have acquired medium-range missiles.
The Israelis want advanced warning if these missiles are deployed, to
give time for air strikes. 
 
    Howard Gayle
    TN/ETX/TX/UMG
    Ericsson Telecom AB
    S-126 25 Stockholm, Sweden

Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Path: decwrl!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!attcan!utgpu!utzoo!henry
Subject: Space news from September 26 AW&ST
Posted: 11 Nov 88 06:56:16 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Xref: decwrl sci.space:8384 sci.space.shuttle:2814
  
    Israel launches its first satellite Sept 19, using a small
solid-fuel booster and launching *west* across the Mediterranean.  The
satellite is named Offeq-1 ("Horizon 1"); the booster is called Shavit
(Comet) and is thought to be a derivative of the Jericho ballistic
missile. Offeq-1 is a test satellite with no useful military
capabilities, but Israel's primary objective is believed to be
launching its own small spysats.  [Flight International, 3 Sept,
reports that Israel badly wants its own spysats.  It has been getting
satellite pics from the US since the Yom Kippur War, but the US has
denied its request for direct ground links to the satellites, and
Israel is not happy about getting edited and sometimes dated
information.  A further consideration, possibly of some significance,
is that Israel has an election coming up.] 
 
    [The 1 Oct issue of Flight had some more details, including a
picture of Offeq-1.  The western launch meant an orbital inclination
higher than anything since some NASA test launches in 1966.  Launching
against the Earth's rotation cuts into payload, but it was the only
way to avoid overflying Arab nations.  Flight shows the flight path
nearly due west, overflying Sicily and Gibraltar but avoiding other
land.  Moshe Ortass, head of Israel Aircraft Industries' electronics
division, says total development costs of launcher and satellite were
$190M, most of it out of company R&D budgets.  He says there will be
another launch within two years.  [The first spysat?]
 
Sendmail is a bug,             |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
not a feature.                 | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Nashua, NH, USA               ]

    Israel's Shavit booster launched a satellite into a 250x1,1150 km
    orbit last September.  The satellite remained in orbit for 118
    days.  An analysis by Steven Gray of the Lawrence Livermore
    Laboratory concluded that the satellite weighed 156 kg and the
    the total three stage launcher weighed 25,000 kg.  Converting the
    launcher into a ballistic missile, with the third stage replaced
    by a warhead, would provide a 1,100 kg throw weight over a 4,500
    km range.  A 500 kg payload could be delivered 7,500 km, according
    to Gray.  At that range, the warhead could reach Moscow.

            {AW&ST - April 10, 1989}

  <><><><><><><>   VNS Edition : 1805   Wednesday 26-Apr-1989   <><><><><><><>

    	I have heard that Israel launched its second satellite today (I
    haven't heard the name but it could be the Offeq 2). Presumably it was
    launched on the Israeli Shavit launch vehicle which is based on the
    Jericho II medium range ballistic missile. Israel described the payload
    as an "experimental satellite". Prelaunch rumor has it that the
    satellite is an experimental or even a prototype of a spy satellite. 
    
    				Drew
    

        Israel launched its second satellite into orbit on April 3. 
    Ofek 2, Hebrew for Horizon 2, was launched from central Israel at 
    3 p.m. under ideal weather conditions, Army Radio reported.  Initial 
    reports indicated the launch was successful, Army Radio reported. 

    I think this is the element set for Ofef-2/Horizon 2
    it is the only listing I have for the 3rd of April
    

    OFEK-2 1990 027A               (Launch 90-27-  A)   Set:    4, Obj:  20540
          Epoch Year: 1990  Day:  94.348442890    Orbit #      12
          Inclination  = 143.22990000     R.A.A.N      = 106.71380000
          Eccentricity =   0.09452110     Arg of Per   =  73.26080000
          Mean Anomaly = 296.73080000     Mean Motion  =  13.99875271
          Drag         =  0.49619E-02     Frequency    =        0.000
          S.M.A.       =    7272.3182     Anom Period  =     102.8663
          Apogee Ht    =    1581.5457     Perigee Ht   =     206.7707

    

Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: NASA Headline News for 04/09/90 (Forwarded)
Date: 9 Apr 90 22:14:54 GMT
Reply-To: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, April 9, 1990                 Audio Service: 202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------
    This is NASA Headline News for Monday, April 9:
 
    The Israelis plan to launch one satellite every 19 months from
now on.  Aviation Week says officials expect future satellites will
remain in orbit for as long as 10 years.  The recent 160 kilogram
satellite launched April 3 is expected to operate for about two months. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 Noon, EDT.
----------------------------------------------------------------- 
A service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ.

From: yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: NASA Headline News for 07/10/90 (Forwarded)
Date: 16 Jul 90 01:34:54 GMT
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, July 10, 1990               Audio Service:  202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 
This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, July 10:
 
Israel's second experimental satellite hit a home-run as it re-
entered Earth's atmosphere yesterday and burned up after what 
controllers called a highly successful mission, according to a 
Reuter wire report.  The Ofek-2 (Horizon-2) spacecraft, built by 
the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, was launched just 
over three months ago.  It exceeded the original life expectancy 
of the mission by 40 days.
--------------------------------------------------------------
All events and times may change without notice.  This report is
filed daily, Monday through Friday at 12:00 P.M., EDT.  This is a 
service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ.  
Contact:  JSTANHOPE or CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.
--------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Select TV:  Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 Degrees 
West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.  JSNEWS7-10
---------------------------------------------------------------
 

    UPn  04/03/1990 1351  Israel launches second satellite
 
   JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Israel launched its second satellite into orbit
Tuesday with the aid of a Shavit rocket, nearly 19 months after placing
its first satellite in space.

   Speculation over the imminent launch of Ofek 2, Hebrew for Horizon 2,
had been in the media for several weeks. Israeli officials said Tuesday
the timing of the launch was not connected to Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein's threats Monday to wipe out half of Israel if any targets
within Iraq were attacked.

   But Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in congratulating the scientific
community for the successful launch, said, "Our strength and ability are
conditioned by enterprise, scientific capabilities and performances, as
executed in the launching of the second satellite."

   A Shavit launcher rocket lifted off westwards from central Israel
toward the Mediterranean Sea at 3 p.m. and placed the octagonal,
solar-powered satellite into orbit. Ofek 2, described as a "scientific
experimental satellite," dipped within 126 miles at its lowest point of
its elliptical orbit around the Earth, Israel Aircraft Industries said
in a statement.

   "All went well. At this moment it must have completed its first
round," Akiva Bar Nun, of the Israel Space Agency, told Army Radio two
hours after the launch.

   IAI launched Ofek 2, within the framework of its work under the
auspices of the Israel Space Agency.

   "The technical goals of the Ofek 2 are to augment space technology,
to verify the ability for two-way communication with the satellite
including transmission of commands from a ground station as well as the
remote control of onboard systems, (and) to test the functioning of
onboard systems during their exposure to space conditions, specifically
those designed for future Israeli satellites," IAI said in a statement.

   The satellite, 7 feet by 4 feet weighed 352 pounds, nine pounds more
than its predecessor. Bar Nun said changes over Ofek 1 included
improvements in cosmic radiation protection, increased computer memory
and the possibility of two-way communication.

   "All these changes needed 18 months of work," Bar Nun said. "This is
a slow process. ... Additionally we are planning a scientific satellite
for 1992 for astronomic observation work. They have no military purpose."

   At the time Ofek 1 was launched, Israeli officials denied the satellite 
launching represented a new stage in the Middle East arms race.

   But Israeli analysts said the launching constituted the start of the
spread of the regional arms race into space, revealed Israel's
rocket-missile long-range capabilities and noted further development
could be used as an important deterrent factor.
 

Article         1503
From: clarinews@clarinet.com
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.hot.east_europe,clari.news.hot.ussr
Subject: Israeli cosmonaut may fly to the Mir station
Date: 12 Jul 91 21:48:29 GMT
  
	MOSCOW (UPI) -- An Israeli cosmonaut may fly on a Soviet Soyuz
rocket to the Mir station in a joint Soviet-Israeli flight, the
government newspaper Izvestia said Friday in a vaguely worded report. 

	Izvestia cited the Soviet news agency, Novosti, as a source
for the report that an Israeli may soon join the list of foreign
cosmonauts who have flown to Soviet space stations. 

	Such a flight could be another direct sign that the Soviet
Union and Israel will soon re-establish diplomatic relations, which
the Kremlin broke shortly after the 1967 Middle East war. 

	Based on the Izvestia report, Israel would pay for the flight,
fitting in with the new Soviet policy to make the space program self-
financing. Under the program, a Japanese newsman flew to the Mir
station in January. 

	Izvestia, citing Novosti, said M. Yakobi, of the Israeli ``Forum'' 
enterprise, signed a preliminary letter of intent for the flight. 

	The one-paragraph Izvestia story, which was on page one, was
headlined: ``A new candidate to join the cosmonaut ranks.'' 

Article: 3075
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.tw.space
Subject: Israelis team up with Russians in satellite launch
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 9:35:59 PDT
 
	JERUSALEM (UPI) -- Russia signed an agreement Tuesday to ferry into
space an Israeli satellite designed by engineering students to improve
ham radio communication worldwide.

	The Russian rocket launch, which is not scheduled for another two
years, will be the first time Israel and another country have cooperated
on a civilian space mission. Israel has sent two other satellites into
space but they have since burned out.

	Representatives from the Technion Institute of Technology and the
Russian space industry signed the deal Tuesday at the Technion campus in
the northern Israeli city of Haifa. The 114-pound satellite, whose cost
was not disclosed, is due to be launched in March 1995.

	Russia and Israel have established a wide range of commercial and
scientific links since the former Soviet Union reestablished diplomatic
links with the Jewish state that were severed after the 1967 Arab-
Israeli war.  Move than 450,000 Jews from the former Soviet republics
have emigrated to Israel since 1989.

	The satellite, designed by engineering students at the Technion, 
will enable ham radio operators across the world to communicate more
effectively by bouncing signals off the orbiting mechanism, said Giora
Shaviv, director of the Technion's Asher Space Research Institute.

	It will also allow weather forecasters to improve monitoring of
climate and cloud formations through satellite-based photography.

	Israel Aircraft Industries and several private companies, including
Motorola, Tadiran and Digitron, cooperated in the satellite's technical
design.