Israel Tests Ballistic Missile Propulsion System For Satellite Delivery

Israel on Tuesday test launched a ballistic missile propulsion system, named "Shavit" for satellite delivery. 

The missile is used to launch satellites into orbit, that is based on the Israeli ballistic Jericho missile, Haaretz reported.

Various media quoted defense ministry as saying that the test was planned long before and has been carried as it is planned.

Officials from the ministry further revealed that in February they had identified and repaired a weakness in the Arrow 2 missile defense system that was discovered back in September 2014 test.

The need for repair was apparent after a test against “a future threat that does not currently exist in the arsenal of Israel’s enemies” resulted in a miss, said officials from the Defense Ministry’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure. “Intercepting such a threat requires a significant broadening of the limits of the system,” the officials added.

The officials also explained that the interceptor passed very close to the target but did not directly strike it. Hence, it was not possible to assess the overall result.

The experts conducted an analysis to find out if shrapnel from the interceptor has struck the mock warhead and destroyed it, however, “A weak spot was identified in the system that had no influence on the current range of Arrow 2 capabilities that are operational. The repair was successful,” the officials added.