The last launch of 2022 is that of a blue-and-white, Israeli, satellite: On the morning of Friday, December 30, at 9:38 Israel time, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California , carrying the advanced Earth Resources Observation Satellite C-3, or EROS C-3 for short. The satellite was developed by IAI and Elbit for the Israeli company ImageSat International – and it is expected to provide color images with unprecedented resolution to private customers.
A record for SpaceX, a record for Israel
Friday's launch was the 61st (!) launch of the Falcon 9 in 2022 – equalling the Soviet Union’s historic record, when it launched its R-7 61 times during 1980. The Falcon 9 released the Israeli satellite into low Earth orbit about 15 minutes after it left the atmosphere.
While communications satellites are usually launched in the direction of the Earth's rotation on its axis – in order to use the Earth's momentum and thus save fuel on launch – observation satellites are usually launched in a retrograde orbit, in order to photograph the same spot at the same time every pass. The Falcon 9 launched EROS-C3 in a retrograde orbit, similar to the Israeli Horizon satellites.
The EROS-C3, which is estimated to cost $186 million, weighs 300 kg and has a multispectral camera (which can separate colors) manufactured by Elbit. This is a new Israeli record: the first blue-and-white color observation satellite. The satellite can photograph any point on Earth at a resolution of up to 30 cm in black and white or up to 60 cm in color.
Encrypted cloud computing technologies
The first satellite from the Eros family, EROS-A, was launched in 2000 and retired in 2006. The fleet currently has EROS-B, EROS-C1 and EROS C2 satellites active – so that the new satellite will complete a cast of four of some of the most sophisticated satellites in the world. According to foreign sources, Israel's EROS satellites were used in the past by countries like India – and even provided news organizations with images of the war in Afghanistan. Thanks to encrypted cloud computing technologies, ImageSat intends to offer EROS-C3 satellite services to countries and business customers around the world.
IAI’s control center has announced that the satellite has already begun to transmit data back to Earth. In the near future, the task force will test and calibrate the satellite’s various systems before it officially enters active service.
