Israel captured millions of photos before striking Iran

Space-based, intelligence-gathering satellites captured images of tens of millions of square kilometers.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Millions of photos were needed for Israeli satellites to capture over 12,000 images of strategic areas in Iran before Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

The space-based, intelligence-gathering satellites captured images of tens of millions of square kilometers.

Iran spans approximately 1.6 million square kilometers, which means that many pictures were taken of the same strategic places from different angles and at various times during the day and night, particularly in Tehran and the Western part of the country.

During that time, Israel had refined its use of satellites, upgrading from a snapshot method with individual pictures to a continuous video, which provided the capability for real-time surveillance.

The satellites enabled Israel’s Air Force to make adjustments in missions based on the positioning of Iran’s ballistic missiles.

Additionally, the technology enabled prompt damage assessment to determine the success of military strikes.

This also allowed Israel’s military to decide if a mission was complete or if additional aerial sorties were needed to complete it.

Crucial to the success of Israel’s operation was the introduction of the Ofek 13 satellite, which was introduced in 2023.

The Ofek 13 satellite, developed jointly by the Israeli Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was launched from a site in central Israel using a Shavit 2 rocket.

At the time, Avi Berger, head of the defense ministry’s space directorate, said, “The launch went smoothly and exactly as planned. The initial signals from the satellite are very promising. Over the next few weeks, we’ll complete the technical evaluations and begin receiving the first images.”

Alongside the ministry and IAI, several Israel Defense Forces divisions, including Unit 9900 and the air force, also participated in the satellite’s development and production.

“Ofek 13 is a radar-based observation satellite with some of the most advanced capabilities of its kind anywhere in the world—all developed entirely in Israel,” Berger said.