By Trend

Israel on Sunday announced a 600-million-shekel (about 176 million U.S dollars) plan to promote the country's space tech industry and R&D, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The strategic five-year plan aims to strengthen and develop the civilian space industry as an engine of sustainable growth, by doubling the number of space companies in the country from 60 to 120, said a statement issued by the Israel Space Agency (ISA), a part of the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Other targets include increasing the number of employees in the field from 2,500 to 10,000 and the total annual sales of Israeli space companies from 1 billion to 4 billion U.S. dollars, it added.

The plan also intends to strengthen space research by increasing the number of scientists in the field, building a research satellite and establishing a national space knowledge center.

Another goal is to strengthen Israel's international position in the field, for example by investing in multi-national satellite projects, the ISA said.

"This is a huge commercial and economic potential for the Israeli economy and hi-tech industry," said Israeli Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology Orit Farkash-Hacohen.