Shavit 2
Function | Expendable launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Israel Aerospace Industries |
Country of origin | Israel |
Cost per launch | $18M |
Size | |
Height | 26.4 m |
Diameter | 1.35 m |
Mass | 30,500–70,000 kg |
Stages | 4 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 350–800 kg [1] |
Launch history | |
Status | Active |
Launch sites | Solid |
Fourth stage – LK-4 | |
Powered by | 1 LK-4 |
Maximum thrust | 0.402 kN |
Specific impulse | 200 seconds |
Burn time | 800 seconds |
Propellant | Hydrazine[2] |
Shavit 2 (
The Shavit 2 project is believed to have been an offshoot development, resulting from Israel's Jericho nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program.[4][5]
Shavit rockets are launched from
The Republic of South Africa produced and tested a licensed version in cooperation with Israel called the RSA-3 in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to produce a domestic satellite launch vehicle and ballistic missile; the South African program was closed in 1994.[7]
An earlier unrelated project called Shavit 2 was the first Israeli
Development
The development of Shavit 2 began in 1982.
Shavit was first launched in 1988 and because of its geographic location and hostile relations with surrounding countries, Israel had to launch it to the west, over the Mediterranean Sea, in order to avoid flying over those hostile territories to its east. The practice has continued ever since.[11]
Vehicle description
The first of the Shavit vehicles were a small, 3-stage, solid-propellant booster based on the 2-stage Jericho-II ballistic missile and developed under the general management of
A planned commercial Shavit upgrade was called Next. This name is no longer used, and this proposed upgrade configuration is now called Shavit-2. Both first and second stages of the Shavit-2 use the stretched motor design of the Shavit-1 first stage.
Launch history
The Shavit has been launched 12 times, placing the payload into orbit 10 times.[13] On the 4th and 6th flights, the vehicle failed before reaching space. Most non-Israeli satellites are launched eastward to gain a boost from the Earth's rotational speed. However, the Shavit is launched westward (retrograde orbit) over the Mediterranean Sea to avoid flying and dropping spent rocket stages over populated areas in Israel and neighboring Arab countries. The Shavit is also said to be made available for commercial launches in the near future.
Variant | Date of launch (UTC) | Launch location | Payload | Mission status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shavit | 19 September 1988 09:31 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-1 | Success |
Shavit | 3 April 1990 12:02 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-2 | Success |
Shavit-1 | 5 April 1995 11:16 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-3 | Success |
Shavit-1 | 22 January 1998 12:56 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-4 | Failure |
Shavit-1 | 28 May 2002 15:25 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-5 | Success |
Shavit-1 | 6 September 2004 10:53 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-6 | Failure |
Shavit-2 | 10 June 2007 23:40 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-7
|
Success |
Shavit-2 | 22 June 2010 19:00 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-9
|
Success[14] |
Shavit-2 | 9 April 2014 19:06 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-10
|
Success[3] |
Shavit-2 | 13 September 2016 14:38 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-11
|
Success[15] |
Shavit-2 | 6 July 2020 01:00 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofek-16 | Success[16] |
Shavit-2 | 28 March 2023 23:10 |
Palmachim Airbase | Ofeq-13 | Success[17] |
The September 2004 failure of the Shavit resulted in the destruction of the US$100 million
South African RSA series
The Jericho II missile-Shavit SLV was also license produced in the Republic of South Africa as the RSA series of space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. The RSA-3 was produced by the Houwteq (a discontinued division of
Variant | Date of launch | Launch location | Payload | Mission status |
---|---|---|---|---|
RSA-3 | 1 June 1989 | Denel Overberg Test Range | RSA-3-d 1 | Apogee: 100 km (60 mi) |
RSA-3 | 6 July 1989 | Denel Overberg Test Range | RSA-3 2 | Apogee: 300 km (180 mi) |
RSA-3 | 19 November 1990 | Denel Overberg Test Range | RSA-3 3 | Apogee: 300 km (180 mi) |
In June 1994 the RSA-3 / RSA-4 South African satellite launcher program was cancelled.[24]
Proposed LK civilian launch variants
In 1998,
The LK-1 was closely based on the Shavit-2, but with motors and other components built in the United States to satisfy U.S. government requirements.[25] The LK-2 was a larger vehicle using a Thiokol Castor 120 motor as its first stage. The third stage was either a standard AUS-51 motor built under license by Atlantic Research Corp., or a Thiokol Star 48 motor. All launch vehicles would have had a small monopropellant hydrazine fourth stage.[28]
- LK-A – for 350 kg-class satellites in 240 × 600 km elliptical polar orbits.
- LK-1 – for 350 kg-class satellites in 700 km circular polar orbits.
- LK-2 – for 800 kg-class satellites in 700 km circular polar orbits.
A Shavit LK air-launched satellite launcher was proposed by ISA and
Comparable solid fuel rockets
See also
- Comparison of orbital launchers families
- Comparison of orbital launch systems
References
- ^ "Shavit", Space launch systems, Deagel
- ^ "Astronautix leolinklk-1 Review". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ a b c "Shavit". Space Launch Report. 20 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Delivery systems", Israel (country profile), NTI.
- ISBN 92-1-142178-0.
- ^ Stephen Clark (22 June 2010). "New Israeli spy satellite blasts off into the night". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ^ a b "RSA". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ Google Books [1] [2]
- CIA: 33–38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2009. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Missile", Israel (profile), NTI, archived from the original on 4 July 2007.
- ^ "Shavit", Britannica.
- ^ "Israel", Guide, FAS, archived from the original on 9 April 2016, retrieved 25 March 2016.
- ^ Ed Kyle. "Space Launch Report: Shavit". Space Launch Report. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Greenberg, Hanan (22 June 2010). "Israel launches spy satellite". Ynetnews. Ynet. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- ^ "Israel Launches Advanced Optical Reconnaissance Satellite". Spaceflight 101. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Israel successfully places surveillance satellite into orbit". Spaceflight Now. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
- ^ "Israel Launches Latest Generation Ofek Spy Satellite". Reuters. 29 March 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- ^ Stephen Clark (21 January 2008). "Covert satellite for Israel launched by Indian rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- JSTOR 23625371. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Iain McFadyen. "The South African Rocket and Space Programme". Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ Guy Martin. "Satellites for South Africa". Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ "RSA-3". Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ "RSA-4". Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ "South Africa". Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
- ^ a b "Israel Missile Update". The Risk Report. 6 (6). Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. November–December 2000. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ "LeoLink Incorporated to Market Shavit Derivatives". Space & tech Digest. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ Wade, Mark. "Shavit". Astronautix. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
- ^ a b "Description", Israel, DE: Space rockets, archived from the original on 6 February 2009.
- ^ "Israel Studies Airborne Launch Scheme for Shavit Rocket". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved 6 February 2015.