Israeli Paper Reports Egypt to Launch “Spy Satellite”

Excerpt from report in English by Ya’aqov Katz headlined “Egypt to launch first spy satellite”, published by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post website on 15 January

In an effort to gain a foothold in space and gather intelligence on Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, Egypt plans to launch its first spy satellite on Tuesday [16 January] from Kazakhstan. The Egyptstat 1, which weighs just under 100 kilograms, will circle the earth at an altitude of 668 kilometres. [Passage omitted]

Tal Inbar, a senior research fellow at Israel’s Fisher Institute for Air & Space Strategic Studies in Herzliyya, said the Egyptstat launching marks a significant change in the balance of space capabilities in the Middle East. It will help Egypt to collect intelligence on Israel, Inbar added. “This has regional significance,” Inbar said. “Egypt is basically saying that they lead the region in satellite technology, since while Israel has advanced satellites in space, they do not have multi-spectrum capabilities.” [Passage omitted]

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.