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Source: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=184624
Israel Aims to Be Space Superpower
(Jerusalem Post) Yaakov Katz - Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to approve an ambitious plan to increase sales of Israeli space platforms to nearly $8 billion a year. The plan calls for the government to increase support for space research and development that would focus on "mini-satellites." Israel is one of the few countries that can independently develop, manufacture and launch satellites, said Prof. Haim Eshed, head of the Defense Ministry's Space Division. "We have the assets, but we are not marketing them." Much of the investment will focus on the miniaturization of satellites and their payloads. Israel's specialty, Eshed said, lies in manufacturing "mini-satellites" like the recently launched Ofek 9 that weigh just a few hundred kilograms, in contrast to the mammoth satellites of several tons operated by the U.S. and Russia.