Drama in Israel's defense establishment and the spy satellite array amid war - exclusive

Since February, Israeli Military Intelligence has lost three of its seven Ofek spy satellites, which completed their life spans and burned up in the atmosphere.

This large number of satellites allows closer monitoring of sites in Iran, Yemen, and other regions.

Concern over a potential threat to Israeli intelligence superiority in the Middle East skies exists.

Ofek-5, launched on May 28, 2002, was one of Israel’s first operational imaging satellites. It recently went out of service after 22 years and burned up in the atmosphere. According to NASA and other sources, it went out of orbit on February 21 this year.

Like other imaging satellites operated by the IDF’s Intelligence Division, Ofek-5 was built at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) space plant in Yehud and was equipped with a space telescope made by El-Op, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, with a resolution of about 70 cm, which was impressive for its time and size.

The satellite was equipped with a propulsion system made by Rafael and launched from the Palmahim Airbase using a Shavit rocket built by IAI, with engines made by Rafael and the state-owned Tomer company.

The launch occurred after a severe crisis in the satellite program led by the Defense Ministry following the failed launch of Ofek-4 in 1998. That malfunction caused it to fall into the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in a loss not only of Israel’s intelligence-gathering capability over distant targets but also tens of millions of dollars.

Previously, only one operational satellite, Ofek-3, had been launched successfully in 1995, also after two expensive failures. The Israeli spy satellite program, conceived in the late 1970s to replace reconnaissance flights, prohibited over Egypt following its peace agreement with Israel, was in danger of cancellation.

The ambitious plan, almost fanciful for a small country, was approved by Prime Minister and Defense Minister Menachem Begin in 1981. Prof. Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Haim Eshed, who later led the satellite administration at the Ministry of Defense for 30 years, presented it to him. According to foreign reports, White South Africa funded the development of the launcher and the first generation of satellites in exchange for the rights to build them themselves.

The Shavit missile successfully placed the new satellite into orbit. Despite its weight of about 300 kg., compared to about 10 tons of American and Russian spy satellites at the time, it provided relatively high-resolution images.

Since then, the satellite has orbited  Earth about 120,000 times, dispensing vast numbers of images from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Lebanon, photographing the region’s skies every 90 minutes.

When Ofek-5 was launched, IAI committed to functioning in orbit for about five years. However, the quality of its design and construction and careful management of its fuel reserves allowed it to continue functioning almost five times as long.

Additional launches of advanced satellites

Over the years, the security system launched additional and more advanced satellites with superior performance. The presence of Ofek-5 improved the frequency of Military Intelligence’s visits to distant targets, enabling tighter surveillance of targets of interest to the IDF.

This capability has been critical since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, during which the Air Force attacked Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen.

In February, as mentioned, the fuel in the satellite was finally depleted. Without the ability to resist Earth’s gravitational pull, it gradually descended until it burned up in the atmosphere.

According to tracking sites, additional satellites ended their life this month—two more IDF satellites: Ofek-10, equipped with a radar made by Elta Systems, an IAI subsidiary, and Ofek-11, fitted with a telescope by Elbit. Ofek-10 completed 10 years of operation in space after being launched in 2014, and Ofek-11 completed eight years, a significant success given its initial condition. The satellite was damaged during launch, and only after extensive remote work by IAI personnel, the Defense Ministry, and the Military Intelligence satellite unit, did it manage to function.

Satellites fall out of orbit after they exhaust their fuel reserves used for maneuvers in space, maintaining orbit, or avoiding collisions with space debris. Solar flares also affect satellite operations, like last March’s major energy eruption, which can disrupt satellite electronic systems and slow them down in orbit, necessitating unplanned engine operations and additional fuel consumption.

According to the sites, the IDF currently has four operational imaging satellites, the original force structure planned for the critical intelligence project, which twice won the Israel Defense Prize in 1996 and 2022. Additional satellites are now in the assembly line at IAI, which is connected to a multi-year plan.

Military Intelligence also uses other sources, such as the Israeli company ISI ImageSat, which operates, among others, the Eros B satellite, launched in 2006 and a twin satellite of Ofek-5, and the Eros C3 satellite, built on the same basis as the last Ofek satellites launched.