The Israeli government confirmed Monday that it plans to subsidize the development of Spacecom Satellite Communications' Amos-8 satellite.
The announcement came two years after the company lost the Amos-6 satellite, which was destroyed when an explosion engulfed a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket carrying it during a routine test at Cape Canaveral Airbase in Florida.
The explosion occurred two days before the satellite was scheduled to be launched into orbit, where it was slated to replace the aging Amos-2 communications satellite, launched into orbit in 2003.
In February 2017, Spacecom successfully launched the Amos-7 communications satellite into space to replace Amos-2 and provide service to clients in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Amos-8 will be developed by Spacecom and the Israel Aerospace Industries and built entirely in Israel.
The cost of developing Amos-8 was previously estimated at $220 million but Spacecom claimed that the price was too high and suspended its plans to develop the satellite.
According to industry insiders, the government's announcement that it would subsidize the project to ensure the satellite is manufactured locally is meant to shore up the Israeli space industry, which suffered a massive blow with the 2016 destruction of Amos-6 on the heels of losing the Amos-5 communications satellite the previous year.
Amos-5 was launched into orbit in 2011 but communication was lost in November 2015.
"This decision has long-term strategic implications that meet Israel's vital, existential needs," Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis said Monday.
"The development and manufacture of the satellite in Israel will allow us to maintain complete independence in the field of satellite communications. Its construction in Israel will preserve knowledge and expertise in the field that have been acquired over the course of decades."
Akunis further noted that the government's decision was in line with the recommendations submitted by a special committee established by his ministry in the wake of the loss of Amos-6.
"This decision is another step in implementing the committee's findings, as submitted shortly after the disastrous loss of Amos-6," he said.
According to the recommendations, the most cost-effective operational model that would meet Israel's needs is a commercial communications satellite that would be manufactured and operated by an Israeli company.
The committee further said that as the cost of Israeli-made communications satellites was higher than their cost in the global market, it was imperative to develop the necessary infrastructures and capabilities to bridge the cost gap.
Director General of the Science and Technology Ministry Peretz Vazan noted that "the technological knowledge that we will accumulate as part of developing this project will improve the Israeli space industry's position as a whole as well as its ability to compete in the global market."
IAI Chairman Harel Locker welcomed the government's announcement, saying, "Developing communications satellites is part of Israel's strategic interest. We must preserve Israel's independent capabilities in this field."
