Shavit
 |
|
| Function | Expendable launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Israel Aerospace Industries |
| Country of origin | Israel |
| Size | |
| Height | 26.4 m (86.6 ft) |
| Diameter | 1.35 m (4.43 ft) |
| Mass | 30,500–70,000 kg (67,200–154,000 lb) |
| Stages | 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 350–800 kg (770–1760 lb) |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | Palmachim Airbase |
| Total launches | 10 |
| Successes | 8 |
| Failures | 2 |
| First flight | 19 September 1988 |
| First stage (Shavit LeoLink LK-1) - LK-1 | |
| Engines | LK-1 |
| Thrust | 774.0 kN (174,002 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 268 s |
| Burn time | 55 s |
| Fuel | HTPB |
| First stage (Shavit LeoLink LK-2) - Castor 120 | |
| Thrust | 1650.2 kN (370,990 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 280 s |
| Burn time | 82 s |
| Fuel | HTPB polymer, Class1.3 C |
| Second stage - LK-1 | |
| Engines | 1 LK-1 |
| Thrust | 774.0 kN |
| Specific impulse | 268 s |
| Burn time | 55 s |
| Fuel | HTPB |
| Third stage - RSA-3-3 | |
| Engines | 1 RSA-3-3 |
| Thrust | 58.8 kN |
| Specific impulse | 298 s |
| Burn time | 94 s |
| Fuel | Solid |
| Fourth stage - LK-4 | |
| Engines | 1 LK-4 |
| Thrust | 0.402 kN |
| Specific impulse | 200 s |
| Burn time | 800 s |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
Shavit (Hebrew: "comet" – שביט) is a space launch vehicle produced by Israel from 1982 onwards, to launch satellites into orbit. It was first launched on September 19, 1988 (carrying an Ofeq satellite payload), making Israel the eighth nation to have a space launch capability after the USSR, United States, France, Japan, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, and India.
The Shavit project is believed to have been an offshoot development, resulting from Israel's Jericho nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile program.
Shavit rockets are launched from Palmachim Airbase by the Israel Space Agency into highly retrograde orbits over the Mediterranean Sea to prevent debris coming down in populated areas and also to avoid flying over nations hostile to Israel to the east; this results in a lower payload-to-orbit than east-directed launches would allow. The launcher consists of three stages powered by solid-fuel rocket motors, with an optional liquid-fuel fourth stage, and is manufactured by IAI.
The Republic of South Africa produced and tested a licensed version in cooperation with Israel called the RSA-3 in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to produce a domestic satellite launch vehicle and ballistic missile; the South African program was closed in 1994.
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