ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries (IAI) has formed a joint venture with Core Software Technology of Pasadena, California, to enter the satellite-imagery market. The two companies plan the launch of a low-cost, high-resolution satellite.
The venture will allow IAI to enter the commercial-satellite market after the Israeli defence ministry, under pressure from the US Government, blocked the company from commercially distributing images, from the Israeli Offeq 3, intelligence satellite.
Washington complains that using the pictures was unfair competition for US companies, which have invested money in dedicated Earth-resource satellites.
Source: Flight International