JERUSALEM, January 23: An Israeli satellite that malfunctioned after launch and burnt up was meant to spy on Iran, Iraq and Syria, Israeli media said today.Ma'ariv newspaper quoted defence sources as saying the loss of the Ofek 4, launched yesterday in a cloak of secrecy from a military site in central Israel, had cost the country US $ 50 million.
It was the second hi-tech failure for Israel's defence establishment in less than six months following an aborted test last August of the country's Arrow 2 missile-destroying missile.
Security sources said the satellite, manufactured by state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, malfunctioned and failed to achieve orbit.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
