Ofeq-11, also known as Ofek 11 (Horizon in Hebrew), is part of the Ofeq 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 (IAI) for the

Israeli Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Isra ...

Launch

Ofek-11 was launched on 13 September 2016, at 14:38 UTC from the Palmachim Airbase in Israel, two years after the launch of Ofeq-10. It was delivered using IAI's Shavit 2 launcher. Compared to its predecessor, the new satellite features an improved version of El-Op's "Jupiter High-Resolution Imaging System", with resolution increased to 0.5 meter, and uses a new satellite bus - OPSAT-3000 - which is a derivative of the satellite bus used in

TecSAR-1 TecSAR-1, also known as TechSAR, Polaris and Ofeq-8, is an Israeli reconnaissance satellite, equipped with a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) developed by Elta Systems. It was successfully launched at 03:45 UTC on 21 January 2008, by PSLV C-10 ...

Mission

According to reports, the launch initially looked like a success, but about 90 minutes later, engineers realized that while the satellite had entered orbit, not all systems were functioning or responding to instructions. However, after several days of remote repairs, the satellite was operational and taking high-quality pictures. It has been reported that South Korea is considering utilizing the satellite to obtain reconnaissance on North Korean activities.

References

Reconnaissance satellites of Israel 2016 in Israel IAI satellites Spacecraft launched in 2016 Spacecraft launched by Shavit rockets {{Spacecraft-stub