OFEK-9 Soars Into Space
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A MONTHLY REPORT COVERING NEWS AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES JOSEPH MORGENSTERN, PUBLISHER July 2010 Vol. XXV Issue No.7 You are invited to visit us at our website: http://ishitech.co.il OFEK-9 Soars into Space Towards the end of With the launch of Ofek-9, Israel has six spy satel- June Israel launched lites in space. a spy satellite from Defense News is a leading international news a base in the south weekly covering the global defense industry. of the country, the Barbara Opall-Rome, the Defense News’ Israeli defence ministry said, with the device report- edly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran. co.il “A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched http://ishitech. the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Pal- machim base,” the ministry said. “The results of the launch are being examined by the technical In this Issue team.” It gave no details on the satellite, but public Ofek-9 soars into space radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek BiolineRX deal with Cypress Bioscience worth up to $365m series, were capable of taking high resolution Merck Serono to expand Israel operations pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran’s nuclear Collagen made from transgenic tobacco plants Economic Developments Q1 2010 programme. Computers used in drive to test stress Computers used in drive to test stress The radio said the satellite was developed by Diamonds in space Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Sha- Nano-diamonds are forever “Bad Name” vit rocket. “A Nice Shower” Odds & Ends Israel, regards Iran as its principal threat after Medtronic invests $70m in cardiology co BioControl repeated predictions by the Islamic republic’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state’s demise. Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies. Shortly after the launch the satellite began to send pictures Copyright 2010: Israel High-Tech & Investment Report Subscription, bulk copy and reprint information available on request Editorial Offices: P.O.Box 33633, Tel- Aviv 61336, Israel Tel-: +972-3-5235279 Fax: +972-3-5227799 E-mail: [email protected] July 2010 based correspondent has written that “Israel’s September 2004. Israeli defense officials hinted Ministry of Defense has secured tacit U.S. gov- that Ofek-7 would grant Israeli Defense Forces ernment consent for a prospective remote sens- (IDF) unprecedented operational capabilities. In ing deal with China based on the Eros B, a com- this context, ‘’With this launch we have improved mercial, high-resolution satellite nearly identical Israel’s operational capabilities by dozens of to the Israeli military’s Ofeq-5”. percentage points. This is due to improvements made to the satellite we now have better cover- Considering that Israel’s satellite program began age in the skies’’ said Brig. Gen. Haim Eshed, only 19 years ago the proposed Chinese con- director of Space Programming at the Defense nection is an outstanding example of how far Ministry Research and Development Directorate Israel’s satellite industry has progressed in a (MAFAT). short period of time. What Israeli defense officials mean by operational The history of Israel in space is short but capabilities is most probably due to tactical tools remarkable. It started in 1988 with the launch of to be used during all kinds of military operations. Ofeq 1 by the Shavit launcher, affiliating Israel With this new capability Israel seems to have to the very exclusive club of 7 countries, who enhanced the strategic as well as the tactical launched a self-developed satellite with their capabilities of its satellites. At that time Defense own made launcher. Ministry Director Gen. Pinhas Buhris also hailed the successful launch of Ofek-7 and said that as Israel often talks about maintaining a strategic a former intelligence officer he knew ‘’firsthand’’ edge over its neighbors in order to survive, and the strategic contribution the Ofek satellites made for this it has been developing all kinds of strate- to Israeli security. What Buhris hinted at by saying gic tools and programs. Israel’s space program ‘’strategic contribution” is, of course, Ofek-7’s abil- is one of these, and it does have a very clear ity to spy on Iran, Iraq and Syria. In fact Ofek-7’s edge over its neighbors and opponents. Israel High-Tech & Investment Report In this respect satellite communication and Published monthly since January 1985 observation is Israel’s major space-based stra- Publisher and Editor in Chief tegic tool. Joseph Morgenstern, B.A. Chem. A consortium of Israeli defense companies, of Technology Review Board which Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) is the lead- Prof. S.J. Joel-Cohen, MD, FRCS. FRCOG (1996-2002) er, developed the most recent Ofek-7. IAI is also Prof. Hylton Miller, M.B. Ch.B. the manufacturer of the Shavit launching rocket. Dr. Clive L. Carpel, M.B. Ch.B. Elop, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elbit Sys- Copy Chief tems, produces the imaging payload. The cost Debbie Mor of the satellite is classified. It weighs roughly Web Master 300 kilograms and it follows an elliptical orbit at Marty vonBokel an altitude of between 300 and 600 kilometers. Graphics Consultant Only 2.3 meters long, it has a life span of about Daniel Morgenstern four years with a high-resolution optical imaging Subscription Inquiries Tel-. +972-3-5235279 Fax. +972 3-5227799 payload, which is far advanced over previous E-mail: [email protected] Ofek-class satellites. Ofek-7 was described as Annual subscription $95.- per year, for 11 issues, having notable and significant improvements Israeli residents add 16% VAT over the failed Ofek-6, which in its third boost Web Edition and Achives stage plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea in http://ishitech.co.il 2 July 2010 orbit reportedly passes over those countries every Ofek-7 is the latest in the Ofek (horizon in Hebrew) 90 minutes and thereby collects valuable visual class of satellites and it replaced Ofek-5, which intelligence. has been in orbit and functioning successfully for almost five years. In addition to Ofek-class satellites, Israel has Eros B -- a civilian-owned satellite used by the Defense BiolineRX deal with Cypress Bioscience Ministry on a contract basis -- and Amos 1 and 2 worth up to $365m communication satellites. IAI is planning to launch BiolineRX Ltd. (TASE:BLRX) has granted an the Amos 3 to enhance Israel’s strategic commu- out-license to Cypress Bioscience Inc. (Nasdaq: nication capabilities. CYBP) for the company’s BL-1020 drug for the treatment of schizophrenia in the US, Canada, All this clearly demonstrates that Israel has a and Mexico. very successful satellite program, which has managed to launch close to 10 satellites so far. Cypress has exclusive rights to complete clinical In fact Israel is one of only seven countries with trials and regulatory procedures of BL-1020, and independent satellite launch capabilities and is an will bear the full costs in these clinical trials and important member of this exclusive club, which regulatory procedures, as well as production and also includes the US, France, Japan, China, India marketing of the drug in the territory. The com- and Russia. pany says that these costs will, by their nature, cost hundreds of millions dollars. Launch history Ofek 1, launched September 19, 1988, possessed BiolineRX anticipates up to $365 million in pay- a weight of 155 kg.Ê It accomplished mainly solar ments from Cypress under the licensing agree- cell and radio transmission tests. ment, not including royalties on sales. BiolineRX will receive $30 million upfront payment when Ofek 2, was launched April 23, 1990. It also the contract is closed; up to $250 million in mile- accomplished communication tests. stone payments related to the development and approval of the drug, including use of the drug for Ofek 3, launched April 5, 1995, was the first other illnesses, and positive results of the clinical operational Israeli satellite with reconnaissance trials; and up to $85 million in milestone payment (photography) capabilities. It weighed 225 kg and relating to the sale of the drug. was launched on a new version of Shavit. In addition to these payments, BiolineRX expects Ofek 4, launched January 22, 1998, did not net royalties on sales of BL-1020 in Cypress’s ter- achieve earth orbit due to a launcher failure and ritory of 12-18% of annual sales. was lost. Ofek 5, was launched 28 May 2002. BiolineRX will pay the BL-1020 license-holder part of the proceeds from the out-license. Ofek 6, launched September 6, 2004 encoun- tered another launcher failure, failed to achieve Closing of the deal is subject to approval by the low earth orbit and also crashed to the sea. The Office of the Chief Scientist, which has supported launcher failure was due to the third stage of the development of the BL-1020. Shavit launcher. Merck Serono to expand Israel operations Ofek 7 was successfully launched on June 11, Merck Serono wants to broaden its drug pipeline 2007. and drug discovery activities. 3 July 2010 Merck Serono SA, Europe’s largest biophar- cations for use in a variety of human maceutical company, plans to expand its Israeli medical procedures. operations. The company has called on Israeli entrepreneurs and start-ups to collaborate with it Natural human type I collagen is the through its local R&D center, Inter Lab Ltd. most abundant protein in the human body and is the main protein found in Merck Serono is a unit of Merck KGaA (XETRA: all connective tissue. Commercially pro- MRGG).