Israel to supply Azerbaijan with satellites in $120 million deal

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed on April 24 that Israel Aerospace Industries will supply Azerbaijan with two satellites at a total cost of $120 million.

Cohen confirmed the purchase deal in an interview with the Times of Israel, commenting on his visits last week to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, Al Monitor reports. 

“We were told by the Azeris that they had chosen an Israeli company to make a deal to purchase satellites, but I have to say that the more significant agreement is for the sale of water desalination facilities. Beyond that, the visit in Baku was mostly meant to show appreciation for them opening an embassy in Israel after a 30-year relationship,” noted Cohen. 

The Azeri space agency Azercosmos operates two communication satellites and one observation satellite. Last week, Azercosmos reported it had lost contact with its Azersky satellite. Azersky remains in orbit, but Azercosmos has given up on re-establishing contact with it. As such, Azercosmos announced it was launching a project for “a new, higher-resolution observation satellite project, which responds to the challenges of modern technological development in accordance with the wishes of local institutions.”

Because of its geographical closeness to Iran, Israel considers Azerbaijan an important strategic ally in the region. Cohen’s visit there was aimed at strengthening security ties with Baku, as well as developing economic and tourism relations. Then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz had visited Azerbaijan last October. 

Reports over the years claimed that Israel has been exporting weapons to Azerbaijan including Tavor rifles, radar equipment, air defence systems and a variety of spy tech. Azeri officials had even said they were using Israeli drones in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Israel has never officially confirmed these reports. 

A report by Haaretz last month revealed that 92 cargo flights flown by Azerbaijani Silk Way Airlines have landed at the Israeli Ovda airbase over the past seven years. The nature of the cargo was not revealed by Israeli authorities nor by the Azeri flight company, but Haaretz noted that Ovda is the only airfield in Israel through which explosives may be flown into and out of the country. 

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Azerbaijan imported a total of $37 million's work of arms in the years 2020-2022, during which weapons purchased from Israel totalled $22 million. 

Neither Baku nor Israel Aerospace Industries supplied any details on the types of satellites Azerbaijan intends to purchase from Israel. The company develops satellites for various purposes, including research and communications, as well as satellite ground stations. On March 29, Israel launched into orbit a new version of its Ofek spy satellite.

A statement issued at the time by Israel Aerospace Industries read, “The 'Ofek 13' is the most advanced of its kind with unique radar observation capabilities and will enable intelligence collection in any weather and conditions of visibility.”