Shavit 2
Shavit 2 is a small lift launch vehicle produced by Israel from 1982 onwards, to launch satellites into low Earth orbit. It was first launched on 19 September 1988, making Israel the eighth nation to have an orbital launch capability after the USSR, United States, France, Japan, People's Republic of China, United Kingdom, and India.
The Shavit 2 project is believed to have been an offshoot development, resulting from Israel's Jericho nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile program.
Shavit rockets are launched from Palmachim Airbase by the Israel Space Agency into highly retrograde orbits over the Mediterranean Sea to prevent debris coming down in populated areas and also to avoid flying over nations hostile to Israel to the east; this results in a lower payload-to-orbit than east-directed launches would allow. The launcher consists of three stages powered by solid-fuel rocket motors, with an optional liquid-fuel fourth stage, and is manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries.
The Republic of South Africa produced and tested a licensed version in cooperation with Israel called the RSA-3 in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to produce a domestic satellite launch vehicle and ballistic missile; the South African program was closed in 1994.
An earlier unrelated project called Shavit 2 was the first Israeli sounding rocket, launched on 5 July 1961 for meteorological research. Shavit Three, with an altitude reported as, was launched on 11 August 1961.
Development
The development of Shavit 2 began in 1982. Shavit was a three-stage, solid-propellant launcher designed to carry payloads up to 250 kg into low Earth orbit. It was speculated for some time and later confirmed that the first two stages of the Shavit were that of the Jericho II missile.Shavit was first launched in 1988 and because of its geographic location and hostile relations with surrounding countries, Israel had to launch it to the west, over the Mediterranean Sea, in order to avoid flying over those hostile territories to its east. The practice has continued ever since. Debris from the rocket such as the fairing have fallen close to Italian territory near the island of Lampedusa, as confirmed by the Italian Ministry of Defense.
Vehicle description
The first of the Shavit vehicles were a small, 3-stage, solid-propellant booster based on the 2-stage Jericho-II ballistic missile and developed under the general management of Israel Aircraft Industries and in particular its MBT System and Space Technology subsidiary. Israel Military Industries Systems produces the first-stage and second-stage motors, while Rafael is responsible for the third-stage motor.A planned commercial Shavit upgrade was called Next. This name is no longer used, and this proposed upgrade configuration is now called Shavit-2. Both first and second stages of the Shavit-2 use the stretched motor design of the Shavit-1 first stage.
Launch history
The Shavit has been launched 13 times, placing the payload into orbit 11 times. On the 4th and 6th flights, the vehicle failed before reaching space. Most non-Israeli satellites are launched eastward to gain a boost from the Earth's rotational speed. However, the Shavit is launched westward over the Mediterranean Sea to avoid flying and dropping spent rocket stages over populated areas in Israel and neighboring Arab countries. The Shavit is also said to be made available for commercial launches in the near future.| Variant | Date of launch | Launch location | Payload | Mission status | ||||||||
| Shavit | 19 September 1988 09:31 | Palmachim Airbase |  SuccessSouth African RSA seriesThe Jericho II missile-Shavit SLV was also license produced in the Republic of South Africa as the RSA series of space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. The RSA-3 was produced by the Houwteq company at Grabouw, 30 km east of Cape Town. Test launches were made from Overberg Test Range near Bredasdorp, 200 km east of Cape Town. Rooiels was where the engine-test facilities were located. Development continued even after South African renunciation of its nuclear weapons for use as a commercial satellite launcher. Development actually reached its height in 1992, a year after nuclear renunciation, with 50–70 companies involved, employing 1300–1500 people from the public and private sector. A much heavier ICBM or space launch vehicle, the RSA-4, with a first stage in the Peacekeeper ICBM class but with Jericho-2/RSA-3 upper-stage components was in development.
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