Israel’s ability to project power into space reduces some of its vulnerabilities as a small country, say top Israeli sources.
As Iran, with Russia’s help, and others develop greater abilities to perform surveillance of Israel’s small physical geographic area, sources said that shifting more capabilities and aspects of its various industries to space can avoid that surveillance.
Likewise, if aspects of intelligence operations are moved into space, it will be more difficult for adversaries to crack into or otherwise access that intelligence, said sources.
In addition, it is harder for adversaries to know when Israel may be watching them from space than from drones or other lower flying aircraft or human spies on the ground.
Moreover, sources stated that maintaining command and control functions in space or using space assets is more feasible than doing so on land if an adversary might manage to pierce Israel’s air defense missile shield.
With only seven countries deeply involved in developing space capabilities, Israel now has a larger qualitative advantage in that arena than it does in some other arenas where it had an advantage in the past.
Over the decades, one of the most frequent objections to basing too many operations or goals on space developments has been the exorbitant cost of creating space technologies and of transporting anything, human or objects, into space.
However, sources said that the price of getting a kilogram of anything into space in 2026 is around 10 times less than it was when the US sent a spaceship to the moon in 1969.
Predictions are that aspects of space developments are on the way to getting even significantly less expensive, maybe even in just the next couple of years.
Israel’s space “footprint” is mostly in the lower atmosphere (typically for surveillance assets) and the higher atmosphere (typically for communications assets).
It has fewer assets in the mid-range of the atmosphere.
Space Directorate Unit established during Israel-Hamas war
In 2024, Israel announced the launch of its new Space Directorate Unit, which has been tasked with consolidating all missions beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
This unit was established during the Israel-Hamas War, and its first head was announced as Lt.-Col.” N.,” who said that the time of opening the unit “may not be standard, but precisely at this time, we saw fit to establish the directorate. The air force realized that it was necessary to stop for a moment, pick up binoculars, and look even further ahead to expand our defense capabilities.”
The directorate has two structures working in tandem: the first is satellite projects, and the second is cooperation between the IDF and the existing defense system.
“The Israel Air Force is a body with experience in defense, attacking, and leading operational systems. Therefore, the Space Directorate will bridge the challenges between the country and the Israel Air Force,” noted N.
“Space may seem far away, but it’s only about 100 km. from here, which is like an hour’s drive on Highway 6,” N. clarified. “We use this dimension of space all the time without noticing, even in routine activities, such as navigating on a mobile phone.
“Until a decade ago, in order to be in space, we had to launch satellites on our own, which is a very complex technological and economic thing, which was busy and challenging,” the commander said.
After Israel Aerospace Industries launched the Ofek 19 surveillance satellite in early September, there were reports that the Shavit launcher, which was used to put the satellite in space, is on schedule to be replaced with a larger launcher for Israel’s next generation of satellites, which may be almost as much as twice the weight.
At the same time, Elbit and Rafael are developing smaller satellites.
Reports have said that the mix of large and small satellites could eventually give Israel surveillance of a given location or target every quarter of an hour.
On December 2, Avi Berger, head of the Space and Satellite Administration in the Defense Ministry, stated, “The Israeli satellite constellation was a full partner in all operational activity before, during, and after Operation Rising Lion. Over the 12 days of [the Israel-Iran War], we collected tens of millions of square kilometers of extremely high-quality imagery, day and night.
“Targets were built in real time, and critical communications were provided with high availability to support strike operations discreetly and without risking our forces,” he stated.
In addition, Berger said, “The war with Iran has further sharpened our understanding that we must dramatically increase investment in developing and maintaining Israeli superiority over our adversaries in space.”
Further, he committed that “Israeli space capabilities will be present at every point in the Middle East, collecting intelligence and providing alerts – around the clock and in all weather conditions. Space is a decisive component in ensuring the IDF’s freedom of action.”
In a December report, Calcalist interviewed Berger about potential weapons to use against adversaries in space.
Berger would not give complete specifics, but revealed that such weapons could include, “For example, anything that can prevent satellites from doing what they can do. By any means, whether it is kinetic or not. We examine everything that happens and can affect us, and we are constantly considering such things. The space race also creates such challenges.”
On January 17, Berger told Channel 12 that the ministry was building “the technological surprises for the next war,” promising they would be dramatic. “If at one point, we used to speak about spy satellites as opposed to communications satellites, now the conversation is much broader.”
In September, Defense Minister director-general Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amir Baram directly linked the Ofek 19 launch to the lessons of June’s Israel-Iran War, saying it had “demonstrated that modern warfare extends into space. Expanding and strengthening our foothold in space is a central objective in the Ministry’s strategy,” he said.
“In the coming decade, we will invest billions in deploying a satellite constellation that will allow us to maintain persistent, simultaneous surveillance of any point throughout the Middle East.”