Ofeq-9, also known as Ofek 9 ("Horizon in Hebrew), is part of the

Ofeq Ofeq, also spelled Offek or Ofek (, ''lit.'' Horizon) is the designation of a series of Israeli reconnaissance satellites first launched in 1988. Most Ofeq satellites have been carried on top of Shavit launch vehicles from Palmachim Airbase i ...

family of

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

s designed and built by

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI; ), is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 14,000 employees as of 2021. IAI is state-owned by the government ...

(IAI) for the

Israeli Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense (, acronym: ) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats. Its political head is the defense minister of Israel, ...

Launch

It was launched on 22 June 2010, at 19:00

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

, from Palmachim Air Baise in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It was delivered using an improved version of the Shavit launcher.

Mission

The payload is believed to be the multi-spectral "Jupiter" space camera produced by

El-Op Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor. Founded in 1966 by Elron, Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial v ...

. While precise imaging capabilities remain classified, sources say that like the still operating Ofeq-5 and

Ofeq-7 Ofeq-7 (also known as Ofek 7 or Offek-7) is part of the Ofeq family of Earth observation satellites designed and built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the Ministry of Defense (Israel), Israel Ministry of Defense. Launch The Ofeq-7 ...

, Ofeq-9 offers a resolution "much better than" a half-meter. The satellite was also said to be able to detect objects being carried by people. The satellite operates in a

retrograde Retrograde may refer to: Film and television * Retrograde (2004 film), ''Retrograde'' (2004 film), a film by Christopher Kulikowski * Retrograde (2022 American film), ''Retrograde'' (2022 American film), a documentary film by Matthew Heineman * ...

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

References

Reconnaissance satellites of Israel Spacecraft launched by Shavit rockets Spacecraft launched in 2010 2010 in Israel Israel Aerospace Industries satellites {{spacecraft-stub