IAI Shavit

The Shavit, Hebrew for comet, is the small satellite launch vehicle that Israel has flown since 1988 to place reconnaissance satellites in low Earth orbit. Development began in 1982 under the general management of Israel Aircraft Industries, and it first flew on 19 September 1988 with the Ofek-1 satellite, which made Israel the eighth nation with an orbital launch capability. It is a three-stage solid-propellant rocket with an optional liquid-fuel fourth stage, and its first two stages were taken from the Jericho II missile. Hostile neighbours lie to the east, so it is launched westward from Palmachim Airbase over the Mediterranean into retrograde orbits, which lowers the payload it can carry. It had flown 13 times, reaching orbit 11 times, with failures on the fourth and sixth flights, the second of which destroyed the Ofek 6 satellite in September 2004. South Africa produced a licensed version called the RSA-3.