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52-677: The later Jericho family development is related to the Shavit and Shavit II space launch vehicles believed to be derivatives of the Jericho II IRBM and that preceded the development of the Jericho III ICBM . The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US concluded that the Shavit could be adapted as an ICBM carrying a 500 kg warhead over 7,500 km. Additional insight into the Jericho program

104-400: A 1  Megaton yield nuclear warhead. It uses a two-stage solid propellant engine with a separating warhead. The missile can be launched from a silo, a railroad flat car, or a mobile vehicle. This gives it the ability to be hidden, moved quickly, or kept in a hardened silo, largely ensuring survival against any attack. It has an active radar homing terminal guidance system similar to that of

156-560: A commercial satellite launcher. Development reached its height in 1992 a year after nuclear renunciation with 50–70 companies involved, employing 1300–1500 people from the public and private sector. A much heavier ICBM or space launch vehicle, the RSA-4 , with a first stage in the Peacekeeper ICBM class but with Jericho-2/RSA-3 upper stage components was in development, the RSA-2 was a local copy of

208-545: A length of 15.5 m with a width of 1.56 m. It may be similar to an upgraded and re-designed Shavit space launch vehicle, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries . It probably has longer first and second-stage motors. It is estimated by missilethreat.com that it has a range of 4,800 to 6,500 km (2,982 to 4,038 miles), though a 2004 missile proliferation survey by the Congressional Research Service put its possible maximum range at 11,500 km (missile range

260-477: A missile believed to be an upgraded version of the Jericho III from Palmachim ; the long trail of smoke was seen throughout central Israel. Israel's intercontinental ballistic missile launchers are believed to be buried so deeply that they would survive a first strike nuclear attack. After a successful missile test launch conducted in early 2008, Israeli weapons expert General Itzhak Ben-Israel, former chairman of

312-495: A post-1991 deployment chronology. It is believed that the Jericho III (YA-4) is a nuclear-armed ICBM that entered service in 2011. The Jericho III is believed to have two or three-stages, using solid propellant and having a payload of 1,000 to 1,300 kg. The payload could be a single 750 kg (150–400 kiloton ) nuclear warhead or two or three low-yield MIRV warheads. It has an estimated launch weight of 30,000 kg and

364-451: A preemptive Israeli attack on gathering Arab armies, President Nixon ordered the commencement of Operation Nickel Grass , a U.S. airlift to replace all of Israel's material losses. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kissinger told Sadat that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to "going nuclear". It is believed that all Jericho 1 missiles were taken out of service in

416-416: A range of 500 km (310 mi) and a CEP of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and it could carry a payload estimated at 400 kilograms (880 lb). It was intended to carry a nuclear warhead. Due to Israel's ambiguity over its nuclear weapons program , the missile is classified as a ballistic missile. Initial development was in conjunction with France, Dassault provided various missile systems from 1963 and

468-529: A rocket stage may be recovered while others are not. The Space Shuttle , for example, recovered and reused its solid rocket boosters , the Space Shuttle orbiter that also acted as a second stage, and the engines used by the core stage (the RS-25 , which was located at the back of the orbiter), however the fuel tank that the engines sourced fuel from, which was separate from the engines, was not reused. For example,

520-408: A rocket, which was subsequently referred to as the "Jericho 4" by Israeli mass media. Despite this designation, the specific distinctions between the Jericho 4 and its predecessor, the Jericho 3, remain undisclosed. 2024 article provides more details: "... the Jericho 4, a three-stage missile, whose capabilities will include the possibility of carrying fragmentation warheads." The Jericho II/Shavit SLV

572-446: A test launch of 1,400 km is believed to have taken place from South Africa's Overberg Test Range in June 1989. The Jericho II is 14.0 m long and 1.56 m wide, with a reported launch weight of 26,000 kg (although an alternative launch weight of 21,935 kg has been suggested). It has a 1,000 kg payload, capable of carrying a considerable amount of high explosives or

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624-577: A type designated MD-620 was test fired in 1965. French co-operation was halted by an arms embargo in January 1968, though 12 missiles had been delivered from France. Work was continued by IAI at the Beit Zachariah facility and the program cost almost $ 1 billion up to 1980, incorporating some U.S. technology. Despite some initial problems with its guidance systems, it is believed that around 100 missiles of this type were produced. In 1969, Israel agreed with

676-426: Is inversely proportional to payload mass). According to an official report that was submitted to the U.S. Congress in 2004, it may be that with a payload of 1,000 kg the Jericho III gives Israel nuclear strike capabilities within the entire Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and almost all parts of North America , as well as large parts of South America and North Oceania . Missile Threat reports: "The range of

728-643: Is developing the first stage of the orbital New Glenn LV to be reusable, with first flight planned for no earlier than 2024. SpaceX has a new super-heavy launch vehicle under development for missions to interplanetary space . The SpaceX Starship is designed to support RTLS, vertical-landing and full reuse of both the booster stage and the integrated second-stage/large-spacecraft that are designed for use with Starship. Its first launch attempt took place in April 2023; however, both stages were lost during ascent. The fifth launch attempt ended with Booster 12 being caught by

780-646: Is done mostly for convenience. In principle there is very little difference between a low-performance ICBM and a high-performance IRBM, because decreasing payload mass can increase the range over the ICBM threshold. The range definition used here is used within the U.S. Missile Defense Agency . The progenitor for the IRBM was the A4b rocket , winged for increased range and based on the famous V-2 , Vergeltung, or "Reprisal", officially called A4 , rocket designed by Wernher von Braun . The V-2

832-553: Is evidence the Jericho II originated as a joint Israeli-Iranian project, cooperation that ended with the loss of friendly relations after the 1979 Iranian Revolution overthrew the Shah 's rule. There was a series of test launches into the Mediterranean from 1987 to 1992, the longest at around 1,300 km, mostly from the facility at Palmachim , south of Tel Aviv . Jane's reports that

884-402: Is no clearly agreed-upon distinction between an intermediate-range and a medium range ( MRBM ) missile, and the categories overlap. Different sources classify missiles in different ways. They are both distinct from ICBMs, in that they have a range that is less than intercontinental, and hence must be based relatively close to the target. An IRBM, in general, is intended as a strategic weapon, while

936-463: Is the ballistic missile -shaped multistage rocket , but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the Space Shuttle . Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad , supported by a launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies, which contribute to high operating costs. An orbital launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to

988-667: The European Space Agency is responsible for the Ariane V , and the United Launch Alliance manufactures and launches the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. Launchpads can be located on land ( spaceport ), on a fixed ocean platform ( San Marco ), on a mobile ocean platform ( Sea Launch ), and on a submarine . Launch vehicles can also be launched from the air . A launch vehicle will start off with its payload at some location on

1040-649: The Missile Technology Control Regime , the government had to allow U.S. supervision of the destruction of key facilities applicable to both the long range missile and the space launch programmes. In June 1994, the RSA-3 / RSA-4 South African satellite launcher program was cancelled. Launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket -powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites ) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space . The most common form

1092-444: The upper stage of the launch vehicle or launched to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). A direct insertion places greater demands on the launch vehicle, while GTO is more demanding of the spacecraft. Once in orbit, launch vehicle upper stages and satellites can have overlapping capabilities, although upper stages tend to have orbital lifetimes measured in hours or days while spacecraft can last decades. Distributed launch involves

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1144-584: The 1990s and replaced with the longer-range Jericho 2. The Jericho 1 missiles were housed in Zekharia , located southeast of Tel Aviv and stationed in caves. The Jericho II (YA-3) is a solid fuel, two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile system and a follow on from the Jericho I project. As many as 90 Jericho 2 missiles are currently based in caves near Zekharia ( Sdot Micha Airbase ), southeast of Tel Aviv. A request from Israel for 1,100 mile (1,770 km) range Pershing II medium range ballistic missiles

1196-534: The 1991 Gulf War is disputed. Jane's at the time believed that Jericho II entered service in 1989. Researcher Seth Carus claims that, according to an Israeli source, the decision to operationally deploy the Jericho-2 was only made after 1994, several years after the Scud attacks had ended and a cease fire and disarmament regime were in place. Raytheon Technologies , quoting Soviet intelligence archives, showed them believing

1248-467: The 2000s and launch vehicles with integrated distributed launch capability built in began development in 2017 with the Starship design. The standard Starship launch architecture is to refuel the spacecraft in low Earth orbit to enable the craft to send high-mass payloads on much more energetic missions. After 1980, but before the 2010s, two orbital launch vehicles developed the capability to return to

1300-734: The A9 would have been controlled by a pilot. They started from a non-mobile launch pad . Following World War II, von Braun and other lead Nazi scientists were secretly transferred to the United States, to work directly for the U.S. Army through Operation Paperclip , developing the V-2 into the weapon for the United States. IRBMs are currently operated by the People's Republic of China, India, Israel, North Korea, and Russia. The United States, USSR, Pakistan, United Kingdom, and France were former operators. There

1352-665: The Israeli Space Agency at the Ministry of Science, said "Everybody can do the mathematics... we can reach with a rocket engine to every point in the world", thus appearing to confirm Israel's new capability. Israeli Ministry of Defense officials said that the 2008 test launch represented a "dramatic leap in Israel's missile technologies". After a further test in 2013 Alon Ben David published this opinion in an article in Aviation Week on

1404-430: The Jericho 1 is sufficient to strike major cities such as Damascus and Cairo from secured launch locations. They would be used if absolutely necessary to prevent total defeat, but the preparation was done in an easily detectable way, likely as a signal to the US. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger learned of the nuclear alert on the morning of October 9. That day, in keeping with his deal and warning that prevented

1456-420: The Jericho 3 also provides an extremely high impact speed for nearby targets, enabling it to avoid any Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) defenses that may develop in the immediate region." On 17 January 2008 Israel test fired a multi-stage ballistic missile believed to be of the Jericho III type, reportedly capable of carrying "conventional or non conventional warheads." On 2 November 2011, Israel successfully test fired

1508-605: The Jericho II ballistic missile and the RSA-1 was a local copy of the Jericho II second stage for use as a mobile missile. The missiles were to be based on the RSA-3 and RSA-4 launchers that had already been built and tested for the South African space programme. According to Al J Venter , author of How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs , these missiles were incompatible with the available large South African nuclear warheads, he claims that

1560-479: The Jericho, the Shavit, was studied in an air launched version piggybacked on a Boeing 747 similar to a U.S. experimental launch of the Minuteman ICBM from a C-5 Galaxy . Jericho I was first publicly identified being an operational short-range ballistic missile system in late 1971. It was 13.4 metres (44 ft) long, 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in) in diameter, weighing 6.5 tonnes (14,000 lb). It had

1612-596: The Jericho-2 to have been fully developed weapon in 1989, but did not indicate when it was available for deployment. Investigators for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace accessed commercial satellite images of the Sdot Micha Airbase near Zachariah, a suspected Jericho missile base, comparison shows expansion between 1989 and 1993 of the type that would accommodate suspected Jericho II launchers and missiles. Such an expansion would be more consistent with

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1664-481: The Pershing II, for very accurate strikes. The Jericho II forms the basis of the three-stage, 23 ton Shavit NEXT satellite launcher, first launched in 1988 from Palmachim. From the performance of Shavit it has been estimated that as a ballistic missile it has a maximum range of about 7,800 km with a 500 kg payload. The Jericho II as an available Israeli counterattack option to Iraqi missile bombardment in

1716-545: The RSA series being designed for a 340 kg payload would suggest a warhead of some 200 kg, "well beyond SA's best efforts of the late 1980s." Venter's analysis is that the RSA series was intended to display a credible delivery system combined with a separate nuclear test in a final diplomatic appeal to the world powers in an emergency even though they were never intended to be used in a weaponized system together. Three rockets had already been launched into suborbital trajectories in

1768-508: The United States that Jericho missiles would not be used as "strategic missiles", with nuclear warheads, until at least 1972. During the October 1973 Yom Kippur War , with the initial surprise breakthroughs on both northern and southern borders by Arab armies, the alarmed Defense Minister Moshe Dayan told Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir that "this is the end of the third temple ." He was warning of Israel's impending total defeat, but "Temple"

1820-537: The accomplishment of a goal with multiple spacecraft launches. A large spacecraft such as the International Space Station can be constructed by assembling modules in orbit, or in-space propellant transfer conducted to greatly increase the delta-V capabilities of a cislunar or deep space vehicle. Distributed launch enables space missions that are not possible with single launch architectures. Mission architectures for distributed launch were explored in

1872-530: The booster stage of a launch vehicle. After 2010, SpaceX undertook a development program to acquire the ability to bring back and vertically land a part of the Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle: the first stage . The first successful landing was done in December 2015, since 2017 rocket stages routinely land either at a landing pad adjacent to the launch site or on a landing platform at sea, some distance away from

1924-838: The boundary of space, approximately 150 km (93 mi) and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least 7,814 m/s (17,480 mph). Suborbital vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at elevation angles greater than horizontal. Practical orbital launch vehicles use chemical propellants such as solid fuel , liquid hydrogen , kerosene , liquid oxygen , or hypergolic propellants . Launch vehicles are classified by their orbital payload capacity, ranging from small- , medium- , heavy- to super-heavy lift . Launch vehicles are classed by NASA according to low Earth orbit payload capability: Sounding rockets are similar to small-lift launch vehicles, however they are usually even smaller and do not place payloads into orbit. A modified SS-520 sounding rocket

1976-442: The ground. In contrast, reusable launch vehicles are designed to be recovered intact and launched again. The Falcon 9 is an example of a reusable launch vehicle. As of 2023, all reusable launch vehicles that were ever operational have been partially reusable, meaning some components are recovered and others are not. This usually means the recovery of specific stages, usually just the first stage, but sometimes specific components of

2028-410: The late 1980s in support of development of the RSA-3 launched Greensat Orbital Management System (for commercial satellite applications of vehicle tracking and regional planning). Following the decision in 1989 to cancel the nuclear weapons program, the missile programs were allowed to continue until 1992, when military funding ended, and all ballistic missile work was stopped by mid-1993. In order to join

2080-514: The launch site (RTLS). Both the US Space Shuttle —with one of its abort modes —and the Soviet Buran had a designed-in capability to return a part of the launch vehicle to the launch site via the mechanism of horizontal-landing of the spaceplane portion of the launch vehicle. In both cases, the main vehicle thrust structure and the large propellant tank were expendable , as had been

2132-556: The launch site. The Falcon Heavy is similarly designed to reuse the three cores comprising its first stage. On its first flight in February 2018, the two outer cores successfully returned to the launch site landing pads while the center core targeted the landing platform at sea but did not successfully land on it. Blue Origin developed similar technologies for bringing back and landing their suborbital New Shepard , and successfully demonstrated return in 2015, and successfully reused

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2184-472: The launch tower, and Ship 30, the upper stage, successfully landing in the Indian Ocean. Intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile ( IRBM ) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km (1,864–3,418 miles), between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ballistic missiles by range

2236-462: The missile's range and throw weight: "Reportedly, Israel's Jericho III intermediate-range ballistic missile is capable of carrying a 1,000 kg (2,204-lb.) warhead more than 5,000 km." Further tests conducted in July 2013 could have been for the Jericho 3 or possibly the Jericho 3A missile, a follow-up missile believed to have a new motor. In 2019, a successful test launch was conducted by Israel of

2288-496: The same booster on a second suborbital flight in January 2016. By October 2016, Blue had reflown, and landed successfully, that same launch vehicle a total of five times. The launch trajectories of both vehicles are very different, with New Shepard going straight up and down, whereas Falcon 9 has to cancel substantial horizontal velocity and return from a significant distance downrange. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX also have additional reusable launch vehicles under development. Blue

2340-428: The standard procedure for all orbital launch vehicles flown prior to that time. Both were subsequently demonstrated on actual orbital nominal flights, although both also had an abort mode during launch that could conceivably allow the crew to land the spaceplane following an off-nominal launch. In the 2000s, both SpaceX and Blue Origin have privately developed a set of technologies to support vertical landing of

2392-498: The surface of the Earth. To reach orbit, the vehicle must travel vertically to leave the atmosphere and horizontally to prevent re-contacting the ground. The required velocity varies depending on the orbit but will always be extreme when compared to velocities encountered in normal life. Launch vehicles provide varying degrees of performance. For example, a satellite bound for Geostationary orbit (GEO) can either be directly inserted by

2444-619: Was also license produced in the Republic of South Africa as the RSA series of space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. The RSA-3 was produced by the Houwteq (a discontinued division of Denel ) company at Grabouw , 30 km east of Cape Town . Test launches were made from Overberg Test Range near Bredasdorp , 200 km east of Cape Town. Rooi Els was where the engine test facilities were located. Development continued even after South African renunciation of its nuclear weapons for use as

2496-407: Was also the code word for nuclear weapons . Dayan again raised the nuclear topic in a cabinet meeting, warning that the country was approaching a point of "last resort". That night Meir authorized the assembly of thirteen nuclear weapon "physics packages" to arm Jericho I missiles at Sdot Micha Airbase , and F-4 aircraft at Tel Nof Airbase , for use against Syrian and Egyptian targets. The range on

2548-499: Was rejected by the United States for inclusion as part of a military assistance incentive package offered in 1975 during negotiations over transferring the Sinai from Israeli to Egyptian control as part of a US-brokered peace deal. Jericho II development began in 1977, and by 1986 there were reports of test firings. According to Missilethreat, a project of the George C. Marshall Institute , there

2600-656: Was revealed by the South African series of missiles, of which the RSA-3 are believed to be licensed copies of the Jericho II/Shavit, and the RSA-4 that used part of these systems in their stack with a heavy first stage. Subsequent to the declaration and disarming of the South African nuclear program , the RSA series missiles were offered commercially as satellite launch vehicles, resulting in the advertised specifications becoming public knowledge. The civilian space launch version of

2652-596: Was used to place a 4-kilogram payload ( TRICOM-1R ) into orbit in 2018. Orbital spaceflight requires a satellite or spacecraft payload to be accelerated to very high velocity. In the vacuum of space, reaction forces must be provided by the ejection of mass, resulting in the rocket equation . The physics of spaceflight are such that rocket stages are typically required to achieve the desired orbit. Expendable launch vehicles are designed for one-time use, with boosters that usually separate from their payload and disintegrate during atmospheric reentry or on contact with

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2704-534: Was widely used by Nazi Germany at the end of World War II to bomb English and Belgian cities. The A4b was the prototype for the upper stage of the A9/A10 rocket. The goal of the program was to build a missile capable of hitting New York, when launched from France or Spain (see Amerika Bomber ). A4b rockets were tested a few times in December 1944 and January and February 1945. All of these rockets used liquid propellant . The A4b used an inertial guidance system , while

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