New Israeli Communications Satellite Launched from the U.S.

The Israeli foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it has launched the Dror 1 satellite aboard a SpaceX rocket from Florida.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images via AFP

The Israeli foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it has launched the Dror 1 satellite aboard a SpaceX rocket from Florida.

The Dror 1 satellite was blasted from Cape Canaveral Space Center on a Falcon 9, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Foreign Ministry said.

“This $200 million ‘smartphone in space’ will power Israel with strategic and civilian communications for 15 years,” the ministry wrote on X. SpaceX said the launch occurred at 1:04 a.m. (5:04 GMT on Sunday, July 13th) in Florida.

🇮🇱📡 Lift-off!

Israel’s first national communications satellite, Dror 1, just launched aboard a @SpaceX Falcon 9.

Built by Israel Aerospace Industries, this $200M “smartphone in space” will power Israel’s strategic and civilian communications for 15 years.

A bold leap for… pic.twitter.com/RJQzSlUhHI
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) July 13, 2025

IAI, which called the launch “a historic leap for Israeli space technology,” said when it announced the project to develop and build Dror 1 that it was “the most advanced communication satellite ever built in Israel.”