An Israeli satellite launched on an historic mission from Russia this week never made it to its destination.
Space officials said Wednesday that the $3.5 million satellite, which was three years in the making and was to serve as a prototype for future communications satellites, crashed into the sea in a far eastern region of Russia shortly after takeoff Tuesday.
Israeli scientists have been unable to make contact with the satellite, which had been launched on a converted Russian nuclear missile.
The satellite, known as the Gurwin-1, was built by scientists at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology. It was named for Joseph Gurwin, A Lithuanian- born business now living in New York, who had contributed $1 million to the project.
It was due to pass over Israel every two hours and stay in orbit for three years. It was to serve as a test platform for a dozen Israeli high-tech firms, including a project for a space-based computer network that was intended to serve 1,000 users.
Because of its planned orbit, as well as fears that launch debris would land on neighboring Arab countries, the satellite could not be launched form Israel.
The failed launch cast doubt on the Russian military’s plans to use modified missiles as space launchers for commercial deals with foreign partners.
In Israel, Professor Giora Shaviv, head of the Technion’s center for space research, said even though the satellite was probably unrecoverable, the knowledge gained in research and development was not lost. He estimated that it would take six to nine months to build another satellite of the same kind, at a cost of about $500,000 to $750,000.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
