The Israeli IAI will set Morocco’s eyes in space with two Optsat 3000 spy satellites like those Italy has for 1,000 million
The companies Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are also participating in the operation, sponsored by the Abraham Accords
The defence company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has announced an agreement with Morocco to provide it with a spy capability from space valued at 1,000 million dollars, equivalent to almost 920 million euros. The Israeli company has not given further details about the operation, but it has been reported that the acquisition specifically includes two Optsat 3000 type satellites, as in the Italian Ministry of Defence programme, and that it is based on the Tec SAR-1 developed to provide service to Israel.
These satellites, cited in the information collected by the Israeli media The Jerusalem Post, will replace two others, with less capacity, which Morocco already has and which were acquired from a consortium of companies from France, Italy and Germany.
The Israeli companies Elbit Systems, which is in charge of the space camera, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, builder of the system that will keep these devices in their orbits, are also participating in the manufacture of the two new devices for Morocco.
The source recalls that IAI has also sold spy satellites to India, Azerbaijan and Singapore, in addition to those cited for Italy. He also points out, citing French reports, that the agreement with Rabat was signed last summer, before the start of the war in Gaza, which has not implied a cancellation of the commitment, despite the sympathies of the Moroccan people for the Palestinian cause.