| Israel launches spy satellite Posted: Mon, Jun 11, 2007, 8:44 AM ET (1244 GMT)  Israel launched a small reconnaissance satellite on its own Shavit booster early Monday.  The Shavit booster lifted off from the Palmachim Air Force Base in Israel at 7:40 pm EDT Sunday (2340 GMT Sunday, 2:40 am Monday local time) and placed the Ofeq-7 satellite into low Earth orbit.  The 300-kilogram satellite is designed to provide high-resolution imagery for the Israeli military.  Ofeq-7 will replace the aging Ofeq-5 satellite, which has been operating for about five years. The launch, which was not previously announced, is the first Israeli launch since a September 2004 failure of a Shavit carrying the Ofeq-6 satellite. 
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