Israel is set to develop offensive space capabilities as part of the Defense Ministry’s multiyear budget plan for the space sector, including systems designed to defend Israeli satellites from hostile spacecraft and weapons capable of striking targets on Earth from space.
The plan includes upgrades to existing capabilities, including expanded intelligence collection from space and improved communications systems. A dedicated budget will be allocated for offensive space activity as part of a broader effort to strengthen Israel’s position in the space domain.
The Defense Ministry’s multiyear plan focuses on several areas.
The first is the expansion of IDF intelligence collection capabilities from space through multiple layers, allowing operations around the clock, in all weather conditions and across multiple locations simultaneously.
The second area involves establishing broad, resilient, and continuous communications capabilities for the defense establishment.
In addition, a dedicated budget will support offensive space operations focused on two main areas: weapons designed to protect Israeli satellites from hostile satellites, and weapons capable of striking targets on Earth from space, both to defend the Israeli home front and to strike hostile actors.
To advance these efforts, the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT), the IDF, and Israel’s defense industries are engaged in a planning and development process.
Operation Roaring Lion
One factor accelerating the process is Operation Roaring Lion, during which the Defense Ministry and the IDF expanded their use of satellites to gather precise intelligence from space. This strengthened their ability to build target banks during the war.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has argued in closed forums that the space domain requires a major, rapid upgrade to create an advantage over enemy states and position Israel among the world’s five leading countries in the field.
According to Katz, space-based capabilities will provide the IDF with a clear advantage in future conflicts, rather than relying solely on Military Intelligence and the Air Force.
“The space dimension allows us to photograph both day and night, penetrate clouds, and create additional high-resolution imaging capabilities,” Katz said regarding the Ofek 19 satellite.
‘Security superiority’ from space
“Operation Roaring Lion represented a very significant leap forward for us in the field of space,” said Avi Berger, head of the Defense Ministry’s Space Directorate, in an exclusive interview with Walla.
Berger received the Israel Defense Prize for technological projects in the space sector.
“We received the award for the launch of Ofek 13 and Ofek 19,” Berger said.
He explained that the two satellites are SAR satellites, meaning radar satellites, whose technology differs from standard electro-optical imaging satellites. Traditional imaging satellites rely on sunlight reflecting off the ground, returning to the satellite’s optics and creating an image.
“With a SAR satellite, the satellite itself creates the image: it transmits electromagnetic radiation toward the ground, and through special technology, everything that returns from the ground from that energy creates a synthetic image that allows us to produce intelligence,” Berger said.
Berger explained that “this allows us to photograph both day and night, penetrate clouds, and create additional high-resolution imaging capabilities in other contexts that cannot be discussed.”
Alongside further discussion of satellites and additional capabilities of the Space Directorate, Berger emphasized that “the State of Israel must, must, create security superiority in space, so that we can create freedom of action for the IDF and the defense establishment.”
According to Berger, “Based on this, we will be able to create additional effects against various geographic areas.”
