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Israeli spy satellite falls into sea after faulty launch

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Al-Khalil, Sept 6, IRNA -- An Israeli spy satellite has plunged into 
the Mediterranean minutes after it was launched into space at a site 
near Tel Aviv Monday, the Israeli media reported. 
Israeli sources quoted unnamed officials as saying that a 
malfunction occurred in the third phase of the Shavit satellite rocket
launcher. 
As a result, the Ofek-6 spy satellite was destroyed after it 
plunged into sea off the Palestinian coast. 
The Israeli newspaper Ha`aretz said on its website that the 
failure is being seen as a serious setback for Israel`s security 
industry which had hoped the Ofek-6 would serve as another layer in 
Israel`s advance warning system in case of a surprise missile attack. 
The paper said the satellite was also designed to provide 
real-time information on Iran`s missile program. 
The latest debacle came days after Israel`s anti-missile missile, 
the Arrow II, failed to shoot down a dummy missile off the coast of 
California. 
Both the time and place of the launching of the Ofek satellite 
were kept secret until news of the launch failure broke Monday 
afternoon. 
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