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Israel Chooses Indian PSLV To Launch New Spy Satellite
Israel Chooses Indian PSLV To Launch New Spy SatelliteBy BARBARA OPALL-ROME and K. S. JAYARAMAN Space News Correspondents TEL AVIV, Israel and NEW DELHI â In a controversial break from a longstanding military space policy of strategic self-reliance, Israel has decided to launch its next spy satellite aboard Indiaâs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than its own indigenous Shavit rocket. Officials here say Israelâs Ministry of Defense and state-owned satellite producer Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. (IAI) are nearing conclusion with their Indian counterparts of all political and contractual agreements required for the planned October 2006 launch of the TechSAR, Israelâs first synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite. On the government-to-government level, officials said, a pre-existing bilateral accord on strategic cooperation already covers most aspects of the mission. In a Nov. 10 interview, a Ministry of Defense source estimated the PSLV launch cost at no more than $15 million, whereas the Shavit price tag ranges from $15 million to $20 million. The estimated 260-kilogram TechSAR is slated as the exclusive payload aboard the PSLV, which will be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisationâs Satish Dhawan Space Center on the nationâs southeastern coast. If all agreements are finalized in the coming months, as expected, IAI will ship the satellite to the Indian launch site by summer. Contacted by phone, officials in the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bangalore told PTI they cannot comment anything at this stage for 'confidentiality' reasons. India and Israel had signed an umbrella agreement for space collaboration a few months after the visit of Shimon Peres, the then deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs of Israel to ISRO on January 9, 2002. Under a separate agreement signed on December 25, 2003, ISRO is expected to launch Israel's TAUVEX telescope that will image the sky in the Ultra-Violet spectrum. The date for this launch is not fixed yet. Posted by: john 2005-11-12 |
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