The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel just launched a new spy satellite, and that all appears in working order.
Israel’s TecSar satellite, launched last week from India, began transmitting pictures to its ground control center in Yehud on Thursday.
The satellite can capture high resolution images using a technology known as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR.)
The Hindustan Times reports that an Indian company benefited handsomely from the launch.
The Indian Space Research Organisation got richer by about $14 million and enhanced its foothold in the global market with the successful launch of TECSAR, an Israeli satellite, from the Sriharikota Range on Monday.Also known as Polaris, this satellite operates with an advanced radar system to give the Israeli defence forces a peek into military activity on enemy terrain, particularly Iran.
“This flight augurs well for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has a good record in terms of 11 glitch-free flights so far. This (TECSAR) is the eighth foreign payload and the second commercial launch by our rockets,†KR Sridhara Murthy, the executive director of Antrix Corporation, the corporate arm of ISRO, said. Polaris was placed in orbit within 20 minutes of a perfect lift-off.
The article mentions that the first commercial launch of a satellite last year netted the company about $11 million. The final paragraph gives some sense of the market.
The launch will be an important milestone for ISRO that has set out to grab a slice of the $2.5- billion global commercial satellite launch services. “We got a very good price in spite of competition from China, Russia and the US,†Nair said. “We are aiming to capture many orders because our rocket is reliable and cost effective, offering rides at 70 per cent of fee charged in the international market.â€
In the civilian market, an Israeli company will connect the Super Bowl to soldiers stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington.
Most people think the Super Bowl will be about just the Patriots and the Giants squaring off against each other. For the Israeli company Radvision Ltd. (NASDAQ: RVSN), the actual game will be an afterthought. The small company that has a cutting edge video-conferencing technology will be playing an important role in the Pre-game show.It was announced that along with LifeSize Communications, Radvision, will connect NFL stars in Phoenix and U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington during Super Bowl XLII using high definition video communication systems.
“Even football stars have heroes, and the players have tremendous respect for our nation’s men and women in uniform,” said Coach Charles Hatcher.
I wonder how similar this technology is to Cisco’s Telepresence that was seen on Season 6 of 24.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
Yet again, you have to wonder what sort of contributions Israel would be making to the world if it didn’t have to direct so much of its energies and creativity to defense.