On June 22, 2010 at about 19:00 UTC Israel successfully launched a top secret spy satellite into low Earth orbit from the Palmachim air base along the Mediterranean coast.
Palmachim air base is situated in about 15 miles south of downtown Tel Aviv.
The Shavit rocket-carrier orbited the Ofeq 9 spy satellite. A press release from the Israeli Defense Ministry offered no details on the spacecraft, except that Ofeq 9 is an "advanced remote sensing satellite."
