Beijing Xinwei Technology Group is buying Israeli Spacecom Satellite Communications Ltd for $285 million, both companies announced last week. Spacecom operates the Amos-2, Amos-3 and Amos-4 communications satellites and is owned by Eurocom Group, which is controlled, in turn, by Shaul Elovitch, controlling shareholder of Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication.

According to a press release statement, Beijing Xinwei Technology Group is buying Spacecom and will integrate it into an existing Luxembourg company called Luxembourg Space Telecommunication S.A., which will be the legal purchaser of Spacecom. After the acquisition is complete, Spacecom will become a private company, but its debentures will continue to be traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The merger requires shareholder and regulatory approval before it can be finalized. According to Space News, the transaction’s terms are pending the successful entry into service of Spacecom’s Amos-6 telecommunications satellite, built by Israel Aerospace Industries and scheduled for launch Sept. 3 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The price being paid is a 30% premium on the share’s market price, according to Globes. The deal reflects a premium of 41 percent to Spacecom’s average stock price in the past month, according to Reuters.

Spacecom Chief Executive David Pollack said in a statement that the “global market of communication satellites is undergoing a consolidation process, enabling the merging companies to improve their competitiveness,” and so “further to contacts with various entities, the negotiations with the Beijing Xinwei Group matured into this transaction, reflecting a substantial premium on the market price.”

Pollack noted that “Beijing Xinwei is a strategic partner, expert in the field of telecommunication, planning to expand its business in the communication satellites field. The merger will provide the Company with financial strength, and will enable further development and growth. The transaction is performed in accordance with Space Communication’s license terms, stipulating, inter alia, that the satellites will be operated from Israel, and that the Company shall remain an Israeli company, regardless of the identity of the shareholders of the Company.”

The Sheldon Adelson Family Foundation has contributed $16.4 million to the Israel Lunar Project to build the world smallest spacecraft that SpaceIL hopes to land on the moon.

The donation is nearly half of the project’s budget, estimated at $36 million.

SpaceIL is an Israeli non-profit founded at the end of 2010 by three young engineers with the dream of landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon. They entered the Google Lunar X Prize (GLPX) competition, and SpaceIL now has a full-time staff of 20 people, more than 250 volunteers and a network of hundreds of renowned academics, business leaders, and industry experts.

SpaceIL hopes its technological breakthroughs spur a new wave of commercial space-related industries in Israel.

“Sheldon and I are very excited to be supporting SpaceIL in an effort to land the first Israeli spacecraft on the Moon. As an Israeli-born physician and scientist, I am especially proud of the positive impact the pursuit of this goal will have on the next generation of young Israelis, and frankly all young people, as it serves an important example of the role science and technology continue to play in our everyday lives and across the world,” said Dr. Miriam Adelson.

Yanki Margalit, Chairman of SpaceIL Public Board, remarked that, “We will be able to significantly expand our impact and create the first blue and white moment of the 21st century.”

SpaceIL CEO Eran Privman added, “SpaceIL intends to expand its educational program and invest the needed resources in building the spacecraft. We only get one chance to succeed, so we intend to do all we can to increase our odds.”

Israel has launched another military satellite to keep an eye on Iran as the Islamic Republic ramps up its nuclear development program.

While international leaders continue to negotiate with Iran over slowing down its race to develop nuclear arms – an intent it denies despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary – Israel is watching Tehran very closely. Iran has repeatedly vowed to wipe Israel “off the map.”

On Wednesday the Defense Ministry sent its newest “eye in the sky” heavenward to join its predecessors in the mission to keep tabs on Iran and other enemies of the Jewish State.

The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)’s Ofek 10 reconnaissance satellite is expected to orbit the Earth every 99 minutes – 800 times a year — from an altitude of 373 miles (600 kilometers) officials said. The process should take about 64,000 minutes annually. Like its predecessor, the new satellite was launched from the Palmachim Airbase near Rishon Lezion. And although the Ofek 9 carried a multi-spectral ‘Jupiter’ space camera produced by El-Op, its new brother has better equipment.

The camera on the Ofek 10 reportedly boasts resolution “much better than half a meter,” and is sharp enough to detect objects being carried by people, officials said. It is also capable of photographing under different lighting and changing weather conditions.

Two other Israeli satellites, the Ofek 5 and the Ofek 7, are still orbiting the Earth as well.

The Jewish State’s tenth satellite will also send images to other intelligence agencies.

Israel successfully  launched its “Ofek 10” satellite Wednesday night from the Palmachim Air Force Base near Tel Aviv.

The satellite has photo capabilities in all weather conditions and at night and is expected to bolster Israel’s intelligence system and security.

The above is a NASA satellite photo from this morning showing the snow in the Jerusalem environs and up in the Golan.