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Israel to launch "eye in the sky" over Iran: report
EFL - EFGarbageDisposal. Expect seething to start in 5...4...3.
Israel is set to launch on Tuesday a highly accurate imaging satellite which will enhance its ability to spy on Iran, a report in the mass circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said this week that the nuclear program being pursued by arch-foe Iran was the most serious threat faced by Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

"The capabilities of the satellite speak for themselves. I do not need to say anything about what the purpose of its use might be," Shimon Eckhaus, the chief executive of manufacturer ImageSat International told Reuters.


The Eros B satellite has a camera which can decipher objects on the ground as small as 70 centimeters (about two feet) across, the report said. Eckhaus confirmed the accuracy of the published details to Reuters.

The report said Eros B will join an earlier version of the satellite, launched in December 2000. Both are set to augment the work of Israel's declared spy satellite, Ofek 5, which regularly passes over Arab territory.

The Yedioth report said that Israel was planning to send up another spy satellite with the ability to view objects in all weather conditions and in darkness. The Eros satellites are effective only in daylight and in clear visibility.

The launch comes at a time of heightened tension over Iran's nuclear program.

Gee, ya think?
Posted by: Frank G 2006-04-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=149770