An Israeli electronic newsletter called DEBKA-Net-Weekly for July 5th
reported the successful launch of Ofeq 5 on June 26th, claiming that it is
in a 1,000 km orbit.
Actually, no orbital launch attempt has been made by Israel yet this year,
although a long-delayed new Ofeq is awaited: budget restraints delayed the
planned launch due last year.
It will be interesting to see what the new Ofeq is called when it is
launched. The Israeli's did not include the two failed Ofeqs between the
second and third orbital missions in the satellite serial numbers, so the
next orbital launch should be Ofeq 4. There was a launch failure in
January 1998, but that was _not_ a named Ofeq: the Israeli official launch
announcement did not name the satellite. In fact that launch was the
first EROS satellite and the "Ofeq 4" name used for the launch originated
with journalists who assumed that a domestic Ofeq reconnaissance satellite
was being carried.
Phillip Clark
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Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close
Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings
Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG
U.K.
Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more
interesting it is !
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