Launch of Ofek 16
Launch of Ofek 16Defense Ministry

Israel’s newly launched military satellite while be used to monitor distant threats to the Jewish state, top officials said Monday, in a veiled reference to Iran.

At 4:00 a.m. Monday, the Israeli Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) successfully launched a Shavit space deployment vehicle carrying Israel’s latest surveillance satellite, the Ofek 16.

Amnon Harari, the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Space and Satellite Administration, told reporters Monday morning that the new satellite would serve as "one of the main sources for intelligence collection".

Harari added that the new satellite's sensor systems are similar to those of its predecessors in the Ofek line of satellites.

"Ofek 16 joins all [previous satellites]...which are being used to monitor threats against the State of Israel, which as you know are sometimes far away and immediate, so they require constant monitoring, which is done by those satellites."

The satellite launch comes just over two months after Iran made its first successful deployment of a satellite into orbit.

Dubbed “Noor”, the Iranian satellite followed a string of failed attempts by the Islamic republic to deploy surveillance assets into space.

Harari declared Iran’s space program “a threat that we have to monitor”, while emphasizing that Iran still has a long way to go to match Israel’s space surveillance ability.

“Iran is investing a lot into building its space power and program, though they had quite a few failures in recent years.”

“The effort is there and so we should assume that eventually, they will reach a significant level in this area. Although to achieve technology like Ofek 16 will take a long time, its a threat we have to monitor.”

IAI Space Division chief Shlomi Sudri also spoke at Monday’s briefing, highlighting the importance of the Ofek 16 project, which was given top priority, allowing its completion in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Ofek 16 is an advanced electro-optic satellite which involves a lot of Israeli technologies, which enables us to enhance the intelligence and strategic capability of the State of Israel."

The Ofek 16 project moved forward towards completion over the past few months despite the coronavirus pandemic, Sudri said, because the satellite was declared a top priority by the IAI.

Sudri said the first pictures from the new satellite would be received by the ground station in Israel "in about a week".