NASA to launch first Israeli space telescope mission in 2026

NASA is set to launch Israel’s first space telescope into space in 2026, allowing scientists to observe the universe as never before.

The United States’ NASA and Israel’s Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology signed a partnership that will send the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite, or ULTRASAT, into high-Earth orbit in early 2026.

Israel Space Agency and the Weizmann Institute of Science are behind the premier project. The telescope is expected to “revolutionise scientists’ ability to detect and analyse transient events in the universe, such as neutron star mergers and supernova explosions.”

Compared to observatories on earth, ULTRASAT has an unprecedented field of view of 204 square degrees, which is a “100-fold leap in the extra-galactic volume accessible to scientists for the discovery of transient sources.”

ULTRASAT will also be able to measure ultraviolet light that can’t be measured from Earth.

The telescope will help unravel questions such as the origin of heavy elements in nature as well as the impact of giant black holes on their environments.

Prof. Eli Waxman, an astrophysicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science and ULTRASAT’s head researcher, called it a “breakthrough project that places Israel at the forefront of global research.”

“Leading international bodies such as NASA and the DESY research institute have joined this Israeli-led project as partners, having recognized its scientific significance. They are investing considerable resources in the construction and launch of the satellite to become active participants in this mission with access to its scientific products. It’s a science-driven partnership,” prof. Waxman added.

Dr. Mark Clampin, Director of NASA Headquarters Astrophysics Division, said that ULTRASAT will give the global science community “another important capability for making new observations in the nascent field of Time Domain and Multi-Messenger astrophysics programs.”