The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will develop and build the ULTRASAT satellite that will be launched into space in 2026 and will perform observation missions in deep space and the discovery of momentary physical phenomena, such as explosions of giant stars that reach the end of their lives, known as supernovas.
The planned satellite will photograph deep space in ultraviolet using a camera of the German DESY research institute that will be installed inside an advanced telescope that will be produced by another Israeli company, Elbit Systems.
#ULTRASAT program: #Israel #Aerospace Industries to develop, build country’s first astronomical observation #satellite @ILAerospaceIAI https://t.co/symJnsaS6n pic.twitter.com/Xfu1e8XAAH
— ISRAELDEFENSE (@_israeldefense) March 19, 2023
The ULTRASAT program is jointly managed by the Israel Space Agency (ISA) within the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology as well as the Weizmann Institute of Science and has a budget of approximately 90 million (US) dollars. About 70% of the amount will be provided by the Space Agency, and the rest by the Weizmann Institute.
NASA is also participating in the program, which will contribute to the launch of the satellite into space in 2026, the cost of which is estimated at about 25 million dollars, and in exchange for this, it will be sharing in the data from the satellite for research needs provided by a group of astrophysicists on behalf of ULTRASAT.
ULTRASAT will be launched in 2026 by @NASA , to perform space observation and image the universe in the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the spectrum.
— Israel Aerospace Industries (@ILAerospaceIAI) March 16, 2023
ULTRASAT will be the first astronomical observation satellite developed and manufactured in Israel. It will be built at the IAI space plant in the center of Israel and upon its launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the USA, it will be placed in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of approximately 36 thousand kilometers from which a permanent connection will be possible between it and the ground station that will be established at the IAI facility.
The Israeli Space Agency sees the ULTRASAT mission as a significant step that will allow observing the universe in a way that has not been observed so far. This, thanks to a variety of capabilities that will be integrated into the satellite and may affect scientific research on topics related to supernovas, changing stars, absorption of stars by black holes, and more. "The satellite will serve as a powerful scientific tool that will place Israel at the forefront of global space exploration," said the Director of the IAI Space Plant, Shlomo Sodri.
Rapid identification and early-warning of these events will allow scientific research to be conducted on them and the complex physical theories concerning the formation of the universe to be modified, something which is not possible today when stellar events are detected randomly
— Israel Aerospace Industries (@ILAerospaceIAI) March 16, 2023
According to Prof. Eli Waxman from the Weizmann Institute, an astrophysicist and the lead researcher in the ULTRASAT program, the involvement of NASA and DESY in the project highlights the scientific contribution of the planned mission: "They are investing significant resources in the launch and construction of the camera in return for active participation and access to the scientific products."
