Abu Dhabi has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Israel’s ImageSat International, which is co-owned by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and several private investors, that own and operate two EROS satellites. Their services will now be open to the Gulf state as well.
Abu Dhabi, which is the United Arab Emirates’ second largest member, will sign a multi-million dollar deal with Israel’s ImageSat International, according to the American Defense News magazine.
ImageSat, which is co-owned by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and several private investors, owns and operates two EROS satellites, whose services will now be open to the Gulf state as well.
Reports reflect that Abu Dhabi and ImageSat signed their first imagery cooperation agreement back in 2006, enabling the country to subscribe to ImageSat’s Eros-A satellite services. The new agreement will allow the UAE state access to images generated by Eros-B, which was launched into orbit in April of 2006. Photo on left: Orbiting the UAE (iIlustration) Photo: NASA
Both satellites were manufactured by Israel while the frames were made by the IAI and the imagery cameras by Elbit Systems’ subsidiary, Elop. The new contract is said to be worth $20 million a year.
According to the Defense News, ImageSat will allot Abu Dhabi a deciphering station and allow it to get images of pre-specified areas. The magazine further alleges that the contract will fortify Israel unofficial business ties with Abu Dhabi.
It is reported that despite signing contracts with United Arab Emirates members, who have no official ties with Israel, ImageSat refused in the past to deal with other nations in similar situations: In 2008, the company’s minority shareholders sued the majority shareholder for preventing a deal with Venezuela. The matter was heard before a U.S. court, but the suit was eventually dismissed. Rumors were that Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves was interested in buying ImageSat shares, but that came to no avail.
Because of the volatility of the region, the Israeli authorities are cautious about allowing foreign nations to subscribe to Eros services, and any country which does so cannot decipher images taken by the satellites over Israel.
