Israel Space Agency
The Israel Space Agency (ISA) ( Hebrew סוכנות החלל הישראלית, Sochnut HaChalal HaYisraelit ) is the state Israeli space agency based in Tel Aviv . It reports to the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space . The ISA replaces the National Committee for Space Research founded in 1960.
tasks
The ISA conducts space programs together with the Interdisciplinary Center for Technological Analysis and Prediction of Tel Aviv University , the National Committee for Space Research, the Israel Academy of Sciences and the Israeli aircraft industry.
The ISA cooperates with the space organizations of the USA ( NASA ), France ( CNES ), Canada ( CSA ), India ( ISRO ), Germany ( DLR ), Ukraine ( NSAU ), Russia ( RKA ), Netherlands ( NIVR ), Brazil ( AEB ) and concluded with the European Space Agency (ESA) in January 2011 .
The Givatayim Observatory and the Wise Observatory in Mitzpe Ramon are operated together with the Israeli Astronomical Society .
history
The ISA replaces the National Committee for Space Research founded in 1960 by Tel Aviv University as a scientific research project. It was founded in 1983 within the Israel Defense Forces in cooperation with the civilian Israel Aerospace Industries .
The first two projects were the development of a launch vehicle and a military reconnaissance satellite. On September 19, 1988, the ISA launched its first Ofeq -1 satellite with the Shavit rocket it had developed . The ISA's rocket launch site is located about 10 km south of Tel Aviv on the Palmachim Air Force Base on the Mediterranean Sea , 4 km south of the Palmachim kibbutz .
On January 16, 2003, Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to take off into space as a payload specialist on a US space shuttle . He carried out around 80 experiments, including researching the influence of dust particles in the atmosphere on global warming. The space shuttle Columbia broke apart after its two-week flight on February 1, 2003 when it reentered the earth's atmosphere. All seven crew members were killed.
The Israeli Beresheet spacecraft crashed on the surface of the moon on April 11, 2019. Despite the failed soft landing, Israel is only the seventh country to make it to the moon by spacecraft.
Projects
Rocket launch site
The ISA spaceport is located 12 km south of the city limits of Tel Aviv-Jaffa on the Palmachim Air Force Base on the Mediterranean Sea , 4 km south of Kibbutz Palmachim .
Due to Israel's geographic location and hostile relations with neighboring countries, the missiles launch due west over the Mediterranean Sea. This avoids flying over enemy areas and prevents parts from falling on populated areas in the event of a crash. The launched satellites are one of the few earth satellites that orbit the earth in an east-west direction and not nearly equatorially. The start against the earth's rotation causes an approx. 30% higher fuel consumption.
Shavit launcher
(. Hebrew for Shavit comet ) is the name of a three-stage solid-driven launcher , consisting of 2 Jericho - medium-range missile was developed. Its maiden flight took place on September 19, 1988.
Satellites
- Gurwin-Techsat , also OSCAR 32, was an amateur radio satellite that was launched on July 10, 1998 with a Zenit-2 in Baikonur and was in operation until April 2010.
- Ofeq satellite series ( Hebrew אופקfor horizon ) are Israeli satellites for optical reconnaissance. All 11 satellites so far have been launched into retrograde orbits with Shavit rockets from the Palmachim rocket launch site . This costs more fuel, but has the advantage that burnt-out rocket stages fall into the Mediterranean instead of on inhabited areas and the trajectory does not take place over Arab territory. Ofeq 1 was launched on September 19, 1988.
- Amos satellite series are communication satellites that have been launched since May 16, 1996. The previous six launches have been carried out by various space companies.
- Eros satellites : The EROS (Earth Resources Observation Systems) series satellites are commercial earth observation satellites . The previous three satellites were manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). The first successful launch took place on December 6, 2000.
- Sloshsat-FLEVO, a micro research satellite in cooperation with ESA and the Dutch Aerospace Authority, was launched on February 12, 2005 with an Ariane 5 .
- TechSAR (also TECSAR or Polaris) is a radar reconnaissance satellite that was launched on January 21, 2008 with an Indian PSLV launcher.
- Duchifat-1: On the initiative of the ISA, pupils developed the mini-satellite Duchifat 1, Hebrew for hoopoe , which was launched on June 19, 2014 with a Russian Dnepr-1 . It's a radio satellite that can find lost travelers in areas with no cell phone coverage, is solar powered, and can stay in orbit for 20 years.
- DIDO 2 , PEASSS and BGUSat : The small satellites were launched on February 15, 2017 with an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle .
- Duchifat-2: It was developed by 80 Jewish and Arab students and, together with 27 other small satellites, was brought to the ISS in a Cygnus space transporter on April 18, 2017 as part of the EU science project QB50 , and about six weeks later from the space station Dismiss all. Duchifat-2 has a size of 10 × 10 × 22.7 cm and a weight of 1,800 grams. It is used to study the plasma density in the lower thermosphere.
- VENµS , an environmental observation satellite , which was launched on August 2nd 2017 with a Vega rocket from the Center Spatial Guyanais in Kourou in cooperation with the French CNES .
D-Mars simulation
In February 2018, six scientists simulated a stay on Mars for four days in the Machtesch Ramon in the Negev. They left the simulated space station only in their spacesuits to take sand and rock samples from the area. The researchers looked at various areas that could be of interest for a future mission to Mars, such as satellite communications, radiation measurement, and signs of life in the ground.
Lunar probes
The space probe, initially known as Sparrow, was launched on February 22, 2019 with a Falcon 9 rocket from the private company SpaceX from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida and was scheduled to land on the moon on April 11, 2019. It was developed by SpaceIL, a group of Israeli space enthusiasts led by software entrepreneur and billionaire Morris Kahn . After the USA , the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, Israel would only be the fourth nation to have brought scientific equipment to the moon by soft landing.
A follow-up project called Beresheet 2 was planned, but was not implemented.
Chairperson
- Professor Isaac Ben-Israel since 2005
- Juval Ne'eman 1983-2005
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Israeli moon landing fails on the main engine. In: Israelnetz .de. April 12, 2019, accessed May 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Two Israeli small satellites in space In: Israelnetz.de , February 15, 2017, accessed on September 28, 2018.
- ↑ Satellite from students in space In: Israelnetz.de , April 21, 2017, accessed on September 28, 2018.
- ↑ Research satellite sent into space . Israelnetz .de; accessed on August 9, 2017.
- ↑ Mars simulation in the Negev desert In: Israelnetz.de , February 20, 2018, accessed on September 14, 2018.
- ↑ The sparrow is supposed to land on the moon for Israel . In: Stuttgarter-Nachrichten.de, August 6, 2018; accessed on August 10, 2018.