Ofeq, also spelled Offek or Ofek (, ''lit.'' Horizon) is the designation of a series of

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 ...

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 first launched in 1988. Most Ofeq satellites have been carried on top of Shavit launch vehicles from

Palmachim Airbase Palmachim Airbase (, ) is an Israeli Air Force, Israeli Air Force (IAF) base and spaceport, which the IAF and the Israel Space Agency, Israel Space Agency (ISA) operate jointly. It is located west of the city of Yavne on the Mediterranean coas ...

in Israel, on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast. The

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 ...

satellites complete one

Earth orbit Earth orbit may refer to: * Earth's orbit, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun * Low Earth orbit, an orbit around the Earth * Geocentric orbit A geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit, or Earth orbit involves any object orbiting Earth, such a ...

every 90 minutes. The satellite launches made

the eighth nation to gain an indigenous launch capability. Both the satellites and the launchers were designed and manufactured 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) with

Elbit Systems 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 ...

' El-Op division supplying the optical payload.

Description

While exact technical details and capabilities are classified, it is assumed that the Ofeq satellites have an effective operational lifespan of 1–3 years and

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

and visible imaging sensors, except Ofeq-8 and -10 which utilize

synthetic-aperture radar Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is a form of radar that is used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects, such as landscapes. SAR uses the motion of the radar antenna over a target region to provide fine ...

(SAR) for all-weather and nighttime reconnaissance. Some reports place the imaging resolution at 80 cm for Ofeq-5. Most satellites are launched eastward to gain a boost from the Earth's rotational speed. However, Ofeq satellites are launched westward, in

retrograde orbit Retrograde motion in astronomy is, in general, orbital or rotational motion of an object in the direction opposite the rotation of its primary, that is, the central object (right figure). It may also describe other motions such as precession or ...

s, over the Mediterranean to avoid flying over, and dropping spent rocket stages over, populated land areas. Other Israeli satellites, such as the

AMOS Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

series, are launched from locations in other countries.

Orbital characteristics

Ofeq's east-to-west orbit of 143.0°

orbital inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Earth ...

is phased to give good daylight coverage of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Some

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

observation satellites have near-polar orbits and make between 14 and 16 orbits per day, but pass over Israel on fewer orbits. Spacecraft need to reach roughly to achieve low Earth orbit. At 31.88°N, the latitude of Palmachim Airbase, where the angular velocity of the Earth is around to the east, westward launched Ofeq satellites must use more fuel to counter starting going 1,420 km/h the opposite direction. Many other observation satellites with prograde orbits have the same maximum latitude and cover the same areas of the Earth. However the retrograde orbit of Ofeq increases the relative speed to the surface of the Earth and thusly increases the average number of times they pass over Israel on each revolution. Ofeq satellites make a half-dozen or so daylight passes per day over Israel and the surrounding countries, whereas non-Israeli observation satellites in Sun-synchronous orbits get one or two passes per day from their lower inclination orbits. Since its launch in 2002, Ofeq-5's orbital inclination of 143.4 has been the most-inclined orbit of all of Earth's

artificial satellites A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation (GPS), broadcasting, scientifi ...

Satellite List

References

External links

IAI's space systems website

{{Rest of the World Reconnaissance Satellites Reconnaissance satellites of Israel Earth observation satellites of Israel Israel Aerospace Industries satellites First artificial satellites of a country Military equipment introduced in the 1980s