Ofeq-7,
[ ] (also known as Ofek 7 or Offek-7), is part of the
Ofeq
Ofeq, also spelled Offek or Ofek ( he, אופק, ''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 2 launch vehicles from Palma ...
family of
Earth observation satellite
An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...
s designed and built by
Israel Aerospace Industries
Israel Aerospace Industries (Hebrew: התעשייה האווירית לישראל ''ha-ta'asiya ha-avirit le-yisra'el'') or IAI (תע"א) is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both mi ...
(IAI) for the
Israel 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
The Ofeq-7 was launched by a
Shavit 2
Shavit 2 (Hebrew: "comet" – שביט) is a small lift launch vehicle produced by Israel from 1982 onwards, to launch satellites into low Earth orbit. It was first launched on 19 September 1988 (carrying an Ofek-1 satellite payload), makin ...
space launch vehicle on 10 June 2007 at 23:40
UTC.
Equipped with advanced technology and a series of new enhancements to provide improved imagery, it is placed into an
elliptical orbit
In astrodynamics or celestial mechanics, an elliptic orbit or elliptical orbit is a Kepler orbit with an eccentricity of less than 1; this includes the special case of a circular orbit, with eccentricity equal to 0. In a stricter sense, it ...
of .
Mission
Three days after its launch, on 13 June 2007,
IAI MBT Space Division received the first images taken by the satellite. The Ofeq-7 is a follow-on spacecraft to Ofeq-5 that was placed into orbit in 2002.
References
Reconnaissance satellites of Israel
Spacecraft launched in 2007
Spacecraft launched by Shavit rockets
2007 in Israel
IAI satellites
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