Israel Aircraft Industries, which produced the recently-launched spy satellite Ofek-5, is interested in supplying photographs taken by the satellite to defense ministries of other states on a commercial-contract basis.
Initial contacts on the matter have been conducted with India and Turkey, high on IAI's list of potential customers, Haaretz reported on Friday. It is estimated that commercial agreements for the photographs could bring the company tens of millions of dollars a year, but the prospect of such deals depends largely on the position taken by the Israeli Defense Ministry and the army.
According to plans, Ofek-5 is due to start transmitting its first pictures from space Friday afternoon. Its orbit means it will focus on high-intensity, high-resolution photographs of Middle East sites. The Mediterranean region covered includes Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, as well as member states of the former Soviet Union. To the west, Ofek-5 covers all the north African states, from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria as far as Morocco and Mauritania, the daily added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
