India's decision to launch an Israeli satellite with spying capabilities has drawn sharp criticism from the Left even as Congress and BJP appear supportive of the growing New Delhi-Jerusalem relationship, which could offer significant spin-offs in security, science, technology and agriculture.
Israel is to launch the Tech Saar advanced surveillance satellite using an Indian satellite launcher rather than the Israeli “Shavit” launcher. This will be the first time that Israel has not used their own launcher to launch an operational spy satellite. The new radar satellite is manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. subsidiary MBT (MABAT) - Weapon Systems and Space Technology. The 350-400 kg satellite can take images in both daytime and nighttime, in all visibility and weather conditions.