Israel has launched a Shavit-2 rocket carrying a military satellite into a retrograde orbit from its space launch base in Palmachim, on the coast of central Israel south of Tel Aviv.
The launch took place at 23:10 UTC on Tuesday, March 28 (2:10 AM local time on Wednesday, March 29) from Pad 1 at the Palmachim military air base. The three stage Shavit vehicle lit up the night sky as it climbed into space, successfully placing the Ofek 13 satellite into a retrograde orbit.