JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday launched a spy satellite from a base in the south of the country, the defence ministry said, with the device reportedly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran.
“A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Palmachim base,” the ministry said. “The results of the launch are being examined by the technical team.”
It gave no details on the satellite, but public radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek series, were cable of taking high resolution pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme.
The radio said the satellite was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Shavit rocket.
