Egozi: After Long Delay, Israeli Government is Trying to Save its Space Industry

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By Arie Egozi

After a long period in which the Israeli government has treated the country’s space industry as if it belonged to a foreign country and not an industry tightly related to Israel’s security, a slight change occurred today.

Spacecom announced this morning that it had received a letter from a “government source”, stating the intent of “government entities to act for the materialization of a satellite at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for space point W°4 according to their needs”.

The announcement, in very general terms, indicates a slight movement from the side of the government towards at least trying to preserve the local space industry, if not to develop it.

According to the announcement, the government is interested in a communication satellite manufactured in Israel, that is to say by IAI, for its use. This came a month after Spacecom had chosen the American company Loral as the manufacturer of its next satellite.

The Israeli government has been a major customer of Spacecom, and in recent years was responsible for more than 30% of its income. The Amos series communication satellites serve customers all over the world.

However, as said, the Israeli communication satellites also have a first and foremost strategic importance.

This is the first time that the government makes a slight move, and at least tries to do something for the preservation of Israel’s space industry. This industry has been behind the Amos communication satellites series operated by Spacecom, as well as the Ofek reconnaissance satellites series, which supply intelligence information to the IDF.

Arie Egozi, iHLS Editor-in-Chief