Page 14 - Frontiers of the Universe

The ULTRASAT mission links the Weizmann Institute’s outstanding academic research in astrophysics with Israel’s world-leading expertise in small satellite production. When launched, ULTRASAT will establish Israel as a vital source of innovation for scienti c space exploration, and con rm the Weizmann Institute’s leadership in this rapidly advancing eld.
ULTRASAT:
THE SKY IS NO LIMIT
The rst project of the Weizmann Institute Space Program will
be the ULTRASAT mission, poised to
launch into space in 2024. Focusing
on ultraviolet (UV) emissions and scanning an unprecedentedly wide swath of the night sky, ULTRASAT is designed to alert the world’s ground- based telescopes to transient celestial events—like supernovas and the formation of black holes—in real time. Capable of detecting and measuring such events minutes after they occur (rather than the days or weeks that it takes using current telescopic systems), and employing powerful AI-based
data analysis, ULTRASAT is expected to generate a celestial event “discovery rate” 300 times greater than is achieved with today’s technologies. These
discoveries will be communicated to the global scienti c community directly from the Frontiers command center, located on the Weizmann campus.
ULTRASAT has inspired the Israel Space Agency, NASA, and industry experts
to sign on as partners. Based on these relationships, and thanks to recent reductions in the cost of constructing and launching small satellites, ULTRASAT is expected to be the rst of many Weizmann-led missions to space.
A pillar of the Frontiers of the Universe initiative, ULTRASAT will advance scienti c discovery, strengthen the Israeli space industry, and inspire the next generation of astrophysicists.
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