Russia Launches Israeli Spy Satellite

Russia Launches Israeli Spy Satellite

Russia Launches Israeli Satellite to Spy on Iran's Nuclear Program and
Its Long-Range Missiles

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1888471

By HENRY MEIER

MOSCOW Apr 25, 2006 (AP)- Russia on Tuesday launched a satellite for
Israel that the Israelis say will be used to spy on Iran's nuclear
program.

The Eros B satellite was launched from a mobile pad at the Svobodny
cosmodrome in the Far East, said Alexei Kuznetsov, a spokesman for the
Russian military space forces.

About 20 minutes later, the satellite successfully reached orbit,
Russian news agencies reported, citing the space forces' press service.

"The Israeli satellite reached its target orbit and has been
transferred to the client's control," Kuznetsov was quoted as saying by
the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Israel's Channel 10 TV reported that the launch was successful, but the
satellite would not deploy its power panels for another day and a half.

The satellite is designed to spot images on the ground as small as 27
1/2 inches, an Israeli defense official said. That level of resolution
would allow Israel to gather information on Iran's nuclear program and
its long-range missiles, which are capable of striking Israel, he said.

The satellite, which can remain in orbit for six years, can photograph
the same spot on the Earth once every four days, according to
ITAR-Tass.

"The most important thing in a satellite is its ability to photograph
and its resolution," the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitive subject matter. "This satellite has
very high resolution, and (state-run) Israel Aircraft Industries has a
great ability to process information that is relayed."

It could take up to 10 days to see whether the images that are
transmitted are sharp and clear, he said.

Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its
survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is
peaceful. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made this threat
more tangible by repeatedly questioning Israel's right to exist, most
recently on Monday, when he said Israel was a "fake regime" that
"cannot logically continue to live."

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he takes
threats by Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map "very seriously."

"We do not take it lightly," Olmert said, speaking from Jerusalem by
satellite relay to an Anti-Defamation League meeting in Washington. "We
are powerful and able to defend ourselves."

An attempt to launch a military spy satellite, Amos 6, failed last
year. Amos 5 is still in orbit, and Channel 10 reported Israel plans to
launch another spy satellite next year.

Iran's threatening comments about Israel had special resonance on
Tuesday, which Israel marked as Holocaust remembrance day. Israeli
Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres, in Poland for observances, drew a
parallel between Ahmadinejad and Adolf Hitler.

"We will haven't recovered from this (the Holocaust) and I still hear
these calls from Iran to destroy Israel," Peres said.

Ahmadinejad's words, he added, "are enough to put us all on alert."

-----

"Rusty" wrote in message
ups.com...
Russia Launches Israeli Spy Satellite

Russia Launches Israeli Satellite to Spy on Iran's Nuclear Program and
Its Long-Range Missiles



You mean target, not spy~




http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1888471

By HENRY MEIER

MOSCOW Apr 25, 2006 (AP)- Russia on Tuesday launched a satellite for
Israel that the Israelis say will be used to spy on Iran's nuclear
program.

The Eros B satellite was launched from a mobile pad at the Svobodny
cosmodrome in the Far East, said Alexei Kuznetsov, a spokesman for the
Russian military space forces.

About 20 minutes later, the satellite successfully reached orbit,
Russian news agencies reported, citing the space forces' press service.

"The Israeli satellite reached its target orbit and has been
transferred to the client's control," Kuznetsov was quoted as saying by
the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Israel's Channel 10 TV reported that the launch was successful, but the
satellite would not deploy its power panels for another day and a half.

The satellite is designed to spot images on the ground as small as 27
1/2 inches, an Israeli defense official said. That level of resolution
would allow Israel to gather information on Iran's nuclear program and
its long-range missiles, which are capable of striking Israel, he said.

The satellite, which can remain in orbit for six years, can photograph
the same spot on the Earth once every four days, according to
ITAR-Tass.

"The most important thing in a satellite is its ability to photograph
and its resolution," the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitive subject matter. "This satellite has
very high resolution, and (state-run) Israel Aircraft Industries has a
great ability to process information that is relayed."

It could take up to 10 days to see whether the images that are
transmitted are sharp and clear, he said.

Israel has for years regarded Iran as the primary threat to its
survival, disputing Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is
peaceful. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made this threat
more tangible by repeatedly questioning Israel's right to exist, most
recently on Monday, when he said Israel was a "fake regime" that
"cannot logically continue to live."

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he takes
threats by Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map "very seriously."

"We do not take it lightly," Olmert said, speaking from Jerusalem by
satellite relay to an Anti-Defamation League meeting in Washington. "We
are powerful and able to defend ourselves."

An attempt to launch a military spy satellite, Amos 6, failed last
year. Amos 5 is still in orbit, and Channel 10 reported Israel plans to
launch another spy satellite next year.

Iran's threatening comments about Israel had special resonance on
Tuesday, which Israel marked as Holocaust remembrance day. Israeli
Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres, in Poland for observances, drew a
parallel between Ahmadinejad and Adolf Hitler.

"We will haven't recovered from this (the Holocaust) and I still hear
these calls from Iran to destroy Israel," Peres said.

Ahmadinejad's words, he added, "are enough to put us all on alert."

-----

In article , Gene Cash wrote:
"...powerful and able to defend ourselves."

...except *cough**cough* we're not powerful enough to launch our own spy
satellites... ahem.

Except that they are, and they have. Just why this one went to a Russian
launcher is a bit unclear; maybe it outgrew the Shavit.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Henry Spencer wrote:
In article , Gene Cash wrote:
"...powerful and able to defend ourselves."
...except *cough**cough* we're not powerful enough to launch our own spy
satellites... ahem.

Except that they are, and they have. Just why this one went to a Russian
launcher is a bit unclear; maybe it outgrew the Shavit.

Could be. Or, it could be that the Shavit has only had a few launches
and they have had a failed one recently. Or, it could be that they have
some pretty restrictive launch profiles only allowing launches in
certain orbits.

It was the choice of a Russian vs other country's launcher that is the
really interesting part.

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 03:13:35 GMT, (Henry Spencer)
wrote:

Except that they are, and they have. Just why this one went to a Russian
launcher is a bit unclear; maybe it outgrew the Shavit.

....Or the Russians sold them a spare nuke to drop on Tehran if the
Iranians really get out of line.

OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[

On 26 Apr 2006 00:32:26 -0700, "hop" wrote:

I guess the Russians have taken well to capitalism... selling nuclear
tech and weapons to Iran, and then selling launches to Israel to spy [on]
said items.

They do seem to be getting the hang of it, yeah

Dale

In article , Gene Cash wrote:
So how do you think they handled the technology transfer problem? I'm
sure it doesn't have anything new the Russians haven't already thought
of or used, but you never know.
On the other hand, the Israelis just might not consider it a problem?

If they're worried about it at all, simply having somebody keeping an eye
on the thing until the fairing is closed up would suffice. The Israelis
deal with such security issues much more efficiently than the US does --
less noise, much less bureaucratic stupidity, equal or better results.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

In article ,
Charles Buckley wrote:
It was the choice of a Russian vs other country's launcher that is the
really interesting part.

Indeed so... but if you're being commercial about it, the Russians usually
are the low bidders these days.

Some countries are more willing than others to accept that the world has
changed and the Cold War is over...
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

In article ,
OM wrote:
Except that they are, and they have. Just why this one went to a Russian
launcher is a bit unclear; maybe it outgrew the Shavit.

...Or the Russians sold them a spare nuke to drop on Tehran if the
Iranians really get out of line.

"Except that they are, and they have." :-) The Israelis don't need to
buy their nukes...
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

In message , Charles Buckley
writes
Henry Spencer wrote:
In article , Gene Cash wrote:
"...powerful and able to defend ourselves."
...except *cough**cough* we're not powerful enough to launch our own spy
satellites... ahem.
Except that they are, and they have. Just why this one went to a
Russian
launcher is a bit unclear; maybe it outgrew the Shavit.

Could be. Or, it could be that the Shavit has only had a few launches
and they have had a failed one recently. Or, it could be that they have
some pretty restrictive launch profiles only allowing launches in
certain orbits.


Aren't they restricted to retrograde orbits (probably not the correct
term - Westward) to avoid violating the airspace of the people they want
to spy on?
Not to mention dropping rocket stages on them, which sounds even less
like a good idea.