The failed launching last week of an Israeli communications satellite aboard a Russian rocket has prompted Israeli officials to delay the launch of a spy satellite.
Although the delay has already cost millions of dollars, Israeli space officials have decided to postpone the spy satellite launching for fear of encountering another failure, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported Monday.
Previous launch dates for the spy satellite, known as the Ofek 3, have been postponed because of technical difficulties. No new launch date has yet been set.
In last week’s attempted launch, the communications satellite, called the Gurwin-1, crashed into the sea in a far eastern region of Russia shortly after its March 28 takeoff.
The $3.5 million Gurwin-1, which was built by scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology over a three-year period and which was to serve as a prototype for future communications satellites, had been launched on a converted Russian nuclear missile.
Israel has launched two experimental satellites, Ofek 1 and Ofek 2, since 1988. Both reportedly failed to orbit the Earth properly.
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