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|status = Active |sites = Palmachim Airbase |launches = 9 |success = 7 |fail = 2 |first= 19 September 1988 |last= |stagedata = , , , , }} Shavit (Hebrew: "comet" – שביט) is a space launch vehicle produced by Israel to launch small satellites into low Earth orbit. It was first launched on September 19, 1988 (carrying an Ofeq satellite payload), making Israel the eighth nation to have a space launch capability〔 after the USSR, United States, France, Japan, People's Republic of China, and India. Shavit rockets are launched from Palmachim Airbase by the Israeli Space Agency into highly retrograde orbits over the Mediterranean Sea to prevent debris coming down in populated areas and also to avoid flying over nations hostile to Israel to the east; this results in a lower payload-to-orbit than east-directed launches would allow. The launcher consists of three stages powered by solid fuel rocket motors, with an optional liquid fuel fourth stage, and is manufactured by IAI. The Republic of South Africa produced and tested a licensed version in cooperation with Israel called the RSA-3 in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to produce a domestic satellite launch vehicle and ballistic missile; the program was closed in 1994.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=RSA )〕 An earlier unrelated project called Shavit 2 was the first sounding rocket which Israel launched on 5 July 1961 for meteorological research.〔Google Books () ()〕 Shavit Three, with an altitude reported as 100 miles, was launched on August 11, 1961. ==Development== The development of Shavit began in 1982. Shavit was a three-stage, solid-propellant launcher designed to carry payloads up to 250 kg into low earth orbit. It was speculated for some time and later confirmed that the first two stages of the Shavit were that of the Jericho II missile.〔.〕 Shavit was first launched in 1988 and because of its geographic location and hostile relations with surrounding countries, Israel had to launch it to the west, over the Mediterranean Sea, in order to avoid flying over those hostile territories to its east. The practice has continued ever since.〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shavit」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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