Israel and France Expand Space Cooperation
Cooperation between the Israel Space Agency and the French Space Agency (CNES) is expanding. The two agencies signed an agreement at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2015 in Jerusalem announcing a new joint project to be called ORMADD. Israel’s Minister of Science Ophir Akunis and CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall attended the signing ceremony.
As part of the project, scientists at the Soreq Nuclear Facility are developing a device which will be incorporated into a French satellite. This new device will provide important new information regarding the coating on satellites and their ability to withstand extreme conditions in space. Developed at the Soreq Nuclear Facility, the device will measure radiation and the concentration of free oxygen in Space which destroy the surface of essential optical components. These components must remain transparent to operate in an optimal fashion.
The project with be funded by the two agencies and will commence in the next few months. After the French satellite is launched and reaches its target height it will broadcast its data back to Earth where it will be analyzed and utilized by scientists from both agencies.
“Expanding our cooperation with CNES is further proof of the demand throughout the world for Israel technology focused on space exploration,” said Minister of Science Ofir Akunis.
This additional project joins the joint Israeli-French Venus civilian satellite which will be launched into Space in 2015. Venus’s camera is the most advanced in the world with the ability to photograph twelve pictures of the same site with each one on a different wavelength, including ones that are invisible to man such as infrared. The camera will provide vital new information on the quality of water in reservoirs, pollution in land, air and water. The satellite will photograph 110 pictures from all over the world during each orbit. Each photo will cover 700 square kilometers. The satellite is one of the lightest in existence weighing only 270 kilograms.
