World Notes ISRAEL

At exactly 11:32 a.m. last Monday, bathers at Israel's Palmachim Beach heard a sudden roar and watched in awe as a white rocket streaked into the sky. They were witness to the launching of Israel's first space satellite, which made the country only the eighth (after the Soviet Union, the U.S., France, Japan, China, Britain and India) to possess a rocket powerful enough to put a satellite into orbit. That capability, revealed by TIME in August, offers impressive evidence that Israel can launch missiles and hit targets in most Arab countries.

Ofek-1 (the word means "horizon") is an experimental satellite designed to collect data on space conditions and the earth's magnetic field. But there was little doubt, either in Israel or among its Arab neighbors, that future satellites launched by the Jewish state will be used for gathering military intelligence.