Israel is working to overcome the 6 September 2004 failure of its Shavit-1 SLV and destruction of the Ofeq-6 satellite by developing the Ofeq-7 and the TechSAR surveillance and reconnaissance satellites. TechSAR’s launch is scheduled for 2006 at an estimated cost of $15-million. It has become a top priority for the acquisition of strategic image intelligence, intended to have a 14-kilometer-wide imaging swath. Both the Ofeq and TechSAR satellites were developed indigenously as part of Israel’s plan to expand its recently created military space command and boost reconnaissance capabilities. Additionally, Israel has signed on to cooperate with the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system and is pursuing air launched surveillance microsatellites.

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Collard-Wexler, Simon, Thomas Graham et al. Space Security 2006. Waterloo, Ontario: Space Security Index, July 2006. [ 26 quotes ]