Israel officially entered the space age with the lift-off of its first satellite, Ofeq-1, from the locally built Shavit launch vehicle on September 19, 1988. With that launch, Israel joined an exclusive club of countries - Russia, the United States, England, Japan, India, France and China - that have developed, produced and launched their own satellites.
As well as developing space hardware, Israel is using space as a platform to find out more about life on our own planet. Israel has made important contributions in a number of areas including laser communication, research into embryo development and osteoporosis, monitoring pollution, and mapping geology, soil and vegetation in semi-arid environments.
The next step was taken in early 2003 when NASA launched the 28th flight of space shuttle Columbia, on mission STS-107. The seven crewmembers on board included the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Many international space programs have taken an interest in Israel's space achievements. In addition to NASA, Israel has formal space research cooperation agreements with France, Germany, Russia, the Ukraine, the Netherlands and India. In June 2003, Israel was accepted into the European Space Agency (ESA) as a participating member.