Israeli-built satellite blasts into space for Singaporean customers

An Israeli-made reconnaissance satellite blasted into space Sunday from India and initial tests showed that it was performing flawlessly.

The DS-SAR satellite was made by Israel Aerospace Industries on behalf of Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency, and the country’s ST Electronics engineering group. It was launched early in the morning from Sriharikota, India, and carried into space on an Indian delivery rocket.

IAI said in a statement that DS-SAR “has been successfully launched – and entered Earth orbit in space.”

“The satellite has begun its space mission and transmitted the first data to the ground station,” it noted.

The satellite underwent a series of tests by IAI engineers who confirmed it was functioning correctly.

“While in orbit, the satellite will begin a preplanned series of tests, and following their completion, will be formally handed over to its Singaporean customers DSTA and ST Electronics,” IAI said.

The SAR sensor payload enables collecting a wide range of data, “in terms of both coverage and resolution, day and night, and under all weather conditions,” it said.

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Tracking photos pic.twitter.com/kPswrr7ugi

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IAI did not provide further details about the DS-SAR satellite’s mission but noted that it was developed based on experience gained from constructing the OptSat for Italy and the TecSAR satellite for Azerbaijan. TecSAR was also launched from India, while OptSat took off from Italy.

Both are military reconnaissance satellites.

According to the The Strait Times, a Singapore-based English-language newspaper, the satellite is to provide imagery for various Singaporean agencies.

There were a total of seven Singapore satellites in the payload, the largest of which was DS-SAR, weighing 362 kilograms (800 pounds).