Israel launches two nanosatellites
Xinhua, February 15, 2017 Adjust font size:
Israel's science ministry said on Wednesday that two Israeli nanosatellites were launched from India, amidst a record launching of 104 satellites on a single mission.
The milk carton-size satellites "entered a 500-km-high orbit, minutes after the launch," Libi Oz, a spokeswoman for the science ministry, said in a statement.
Science Minister Ofir Akunis said the satellites were designed "to assist in advancing medical and environmental research for the benefit of the entire humanity."
The BUGAST satellite was built by the Israel Aerospace Industries and Ben Gurion University in southern Israel. It carries cameras and other equipment that will monitor climate changes.
The other satellite, manufactured by Israel-based SpacePharam Inc., carries a lab controlled from the earth by an app. "The data would be transferred back to the earth and the researchers could see them in real time and control the experiments via their smartphones," Oz said.
The experiments were designed to explore the effects of microgravity on different materials.
The launch, operated by the Indian Space Research Organization, took place in Sriharikota space center in eastern India.
The PSLV-37 rocket put into orbit 104 small satellites from the United States, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Endit