News From Israel- February 01, 2022

ILTV Israel News

Israeli Spacetech Startup Asterra Is Looking to the Stars for Answers

Yafit Ovadia / CTech

The Earth from space. Photo: NASA

 Israeli spacetech startup, Asterra, has a complex mission ahead: convincing the big leagues that its technology can be used to not only detect water leaks from space using complicated machinery onboard international satellites otherwise known as synthetic aperture radar (SAR), but how to use that data from space to predict the next natural disaster.

The company specializes in infrared-sensing resiliency technology for certain utilities — such as highways, roads, or mining — to help them better understand what areas they need to fix or focus their efforts. Many take for granted that simply turning on a faucet will yield a stream of water, but the path that water travels is lengthy. Water companies are responsible for treating, buying, and collecting wastewater at their facilities, but suffer from one major issue: non-revenue water (NRW) that is lost due to leakage or left unprocessed.

“It could be between a 15-45 percent gap,” Asterra CEO Elly Perets told CTech in an interview, while in underdeveloped countries that number could rise to 60 percent. “We’re simply wasting water. There’s a resourcing shortage, and water really gets lost in that last mile as it travels to you,” he said.

This has a huge effect on carbon emissions as well, since water is directed by electricity. Aside from leaks, the cost of water rises too. Traditionally, identifying leaks was done by listening to pipes with acoustic equipment, but Asterra uses satellite imagery to see what’s going on underground. The company’s SAR operates on an L-band wavelength, which can penetrate the ground, and enable satellites to detect water leaks from space.

“Water in the ground is a major cause for many disastrous events such as potholes, sinkholes, or dams and levees that can be breached and cause catastrophic contamination events or impact natural disasters such as landslides. Our technology helps the mining and construction industries focus their efforts on areas that are more vulnerable or in hazardous locations.”

Looking to the stars

The company, which was formerly branded as Utilis, went through a recent name-change at the end of 2020. The reason behind that, explained Perets, was to realign its goals. “We used to be considered as simply a leak-detection company, but realized that any infrastructure that is underground fits our bill. We want to expand to different markets, and that name change reflects that.” Asterra, he relayed, is a combination of the Greek words “asteri” (star), and “terra” (ground).

“From the stars to the ground, our mission is to help humanity better understand reality using synthetic aperture radar,” he added. “Visible light only comprises some 0.03 percent of the overall light spectrum. We perceive our reality through that minute wavelength. If you think about it, we know nothing. Synthetic aperture radar enables us to see 15 percent of the spectrum. Asterra’s mission is to become humanity’s eyes through SAR.”

Asterra was founded in 2013 by CTO Lauren Guy, a geophysicist who was in the midst of a project at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, searching for signs of water on Mars by penetrating the clouds with SAR technology. After Guy ventured to work at a water company, the idea struck: water leaks could be identified through remote sensing. “We work in the Earth observation spectrum, where not many Israeli space tech companies operate. We really want to help people understand what is happening here on Earth,” Perets added. And thus Asterra was born.

Asterra is working to provide construction and utility companies with comprehensive maps of underground areas instead of relying on acoustic technology. “We can deliver a solution that can dramatically increase the efficiency of solving that problem, and it’s highly-accurate since we use satellites,” he added. “We want to help those people who have boots on the ground, and are dealing with real issues, enabling them to find more leaks, easier, faster, and at a lower cost.”

Perets said that satellites are crucial not only from a utility standpoint, but from an overpopulation standpoint.

“Policymakers aren’t implementing the right solutions to improve our situation here on Earth. Resources and spaces are dwindling, and we’re seeing that with our data. Humanity is growing and exploiting nature in a way that has never been done before. We need to be smarter on how we go about that, and strive to be more efficient. We need to base our activity on large scale-data, and translate that data into action: that’s true Earth observation. If the space industry doesn’t take action, and find solutions, then we can’t resolve these issues.”

Utilizing data to help the Earth

The company’s products include different leak protection systems, there’s Asterra: Recover — its main leak protection product — and Masterplan: a condition assessment that helps companies locate vulnerabilities in infrastructure based on trivial or “small” data. For example, in a 200-mile road, it can focus on a specific 10-mile area. Its Earth Works product provides a detailed saturated map for infrastructure in terms of terrain, topography, and provides an in-depth map for highways and roads in hazardous areas, such as certain angles or slopes which could create potential landslides during the next rainfall event.

For this venture, the company uses three commercial satellites, one from ESA (the European Space Agency), another from Argentina and a third from Japan. While the latter was launched to monitor forestry and large water bodies, Asterra approached the Japanese Space Agency with its unique solution. “They didn’t realize technology was capable of providing these insights.”

To that end, the company has employed Prof. Masanobu Shimada of Tokyo Denki University and a JAXA researcher, who designed the radar equipment on the ALOS-2 (the Japanese Advanced Land Observing Satellite) and works closely with Asterra’s R&D teams to solve problems. Coming from a large space agency, Shimada shared that many often don’t consider ways to use data for the commercial market, and hoped companies would utilize radar to better manage Earth’s precious resources. “We’re constantly on the lookout how we can improve humanity’s situation with the limited resources we have,” he added.

But satellites aren’t the only method to obtain such data. Asterra has also utilized Cessna planes equipped with SAR to cover smaller regions, such as in Italy. And bureaucratic red tape was cut back by the Italian government’s bill to reduce non-revenue water, enabling Asterra to take action. The company’s lightweight aircraft also provide higher resolution, but can also struggle with obtaining commercial flight licenses in foreign countries.

Transatlantic talent

Asterra is partnering with a multitude of companies and municipalities around the globe including with Californian-Esri and EBMUD, Inter-American Development Bank, French-Suez, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Oregon-based Innovyze, humanitarian group IsraAID, Brazilian-CAESB, and the cities of New Braunfels, Texas and Toyota City, Japan. Aside from Rosh Haayin, the company has offices in San Diego, California, the UK, Japan, and China, and is looking to expand to Oakland and San Antonio, Texas. Perets noted the water loss from the Colorado River, which supplies water to five US states, and how Asterra is planning on resolving that problem by focusing its efforts on medium and large utility companies.

So far, Asterra has raised $10 million in total, with $6 million coming in a March 2021 round from the UK venture capital firm Beringea. It completed its Series A from Maverick Ventures between 2016-2017. Currently, the company has no intention of going public but plans to launch a Series C in 2022, aiming to raise $20 million to help further expansion.

Hamas commander accused of spying for Israel escapes from Gaza prison

KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Abed al-Karim Abu Odeh, 35, was arrested by Hamas in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels for Israel.

Masked gunmen from the Qassam brigade, the military wing of Hamas, attend the funeral of Mazen Faqha in Gaza City, Saturday, March, 25, 2017. / (photo credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

A former commander of Hamas’ military wing who was accused of spying for Israel has escaped from a maximum-security prison in the Gaza Strip.

The fugitive, Abed al-Karim Abu Odeh, 35, was arrested by Hamas in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels with a tracking device he allegedly received from his Israeli handlers.

It was not clear how Abu Odeh, who was being held in the Ansar Prison in the Gaza Strip, managed to escape.

The rare escape is seen by many Palestinians as a serious embarrassment for Hamas.

Hamas has arrested a number of suspects on suspicion of helping Abu Odeh according to a Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip.

An illustrated map shows where the Hamas ‘Metro’ system went through in the Gaza Strip and which areas were destroyed by the IDF. (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

Hamas officials described Abu Odeh as an “extremely dangerous security prisoner” and offered a reward for information leading to his capture.

The officials said they did not rule out the possibility that Abu Odeh, who was a top commander of the Hamas military wing, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, would try to cross the border into Israel.

Hamas set up checkpoints and deployed dozens of security officers in several parts of the Gaza Strip, especially near the border with Israel, in an attempt to prevent Abu Odeh from leaving the coastal enclave.

Hamas also issued a warning to fishermen in the Gaza Strip against helping Abu Odeh.

Eyad al-Bozm, spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior, said that Abu Odeh escaped from prison on Saturday morning. “The [Hamas] security forces are taking measures to re-apprehend him,” he added without elaborating.

On Saturday night, Hamas security officers raided the home of Abu Odeh and arrested a number of his family members, according to sources in the Gaza Strip. The officers caused damage to furniture during the raid and search of the house, the sources said.

Holocaust-era ‘Shema Yisrael’ pendants uncovered in Sobibor extermination camp

JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Three pendants bearing shema yisrael (“Hear O Israel”) on one side at a picture of Moses carrying the tablets on the other were discovered.

A rusty road sign is seen outside the perimeter of a Nazi death camp in Sobibor September 18, 2014. An archaeological dig, which has been carried out since 2007, has recently revealed the location of gas chambers under a road at the Sobibor death camp, the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holo /  (photo credit: KACPER PEMPEL / REUTERS)

Three pendants bearing the Hebrew prayer shema yisrael (“Hear O Israel”) have been excavated at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Thursday.

Excavations at Sobibor – where approximately 250,000 Jews were killed during the Holocaust – have been underway for decades now. On the second side of the pendant is a depiction of Moses and the tablets. The team was led by Yoram Haimi from IAA, Wojciech Mazurek from Poland and Ivar Schute from Holland, and was assisted by local residents.

“Little is known about the stories behind the pendants, which are heartbreaking,” said Haimi. 

Depiction of Moses and the tablets of the Law on the pendant discovered in the area where women were undressed before being led to the gas chambers. (credit: YORAM HAIMI/IAA)
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3. Depiction of Moses and the tablets of the Law on the pendant found in the area where victims were undressed before being led to the gas chambers in Camp II at Sobibor. (credit: WOJCIECH MAZUREK)

One of the pendants was discovered in the remains of a building where Jews were undressed before being led to the gas chambers.  

“The personal and human aspect of the discovery of these pendants is chilling,” said Eli Eskozido, Director of the IAA.

Bennett’s approach to Abbas is a refreshing recognition of reality – editorial

JPOST EDITORIAL

After nearly seven months in power, Bennett has internalized that he can’t show a full straight in a card game if only dealt a pair of aces – and that he must play the cards that he has.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks as he attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Israel / (photo credit: REUTERS)

Just three days after meeting Defense Minister Benny Gantz in his Rosh Ha’ayin home last Tuesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dashed any hope that this rare meeting was a harbinger of a thaw in the frigid ties between Israel and the authority.

For just a split second, there was a flicker of hope that maybe this meeting – and the goodwill gestures Israel announced afterward – presaged creating a better atmosphere between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

But then on Friday, Abbas gave an address to mark the anniversary of the first Fatah terrorist attack in Israel – the attempted bombing of the National Water Carrier on January 1, 1965 – and that hope faded. Abbas, as is his wont, blasted Israel, accusing it of “organized terrorism” and “ethnic cleansing,” among other evils. The meeting with Gantz, at least judging from Abbas’s strident tone, changed nothing.

So was it a mistake?

PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (credit: SPUTNIK/EVGENY BIYATOV/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS, YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

We think not, and in so doing, agree with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Bennett, at a press conference Sunday night to discuss the Omicron wave, was asked about the Gantz-Abbas meeting, a meeting he had hitherto not publicly addressed.

First, he said, the meeting was held with both his foreknowledge and approval. Secondly, Gantz has overall responsibility for security and creating stability in the West Bank. Such a meeting, therefore, “is a legitimate part” of Gantz’s “toolbox.”

In other words, if this type of meeting helps ensure security and create stability in Judea and Samaria, then it should be held.

Bennett did not comment on Abbas’s later remarks, but it is possible to extrapolate from his “toolbox” answer that he does not think those comments necessarily cancel out the potential benefits of the meeting, especially since the prime minister stressed that the meeting dealt only with security and economic issues, not diplomatic ones.

This is very much in line with the practical approach Bennett has taken to governing: keep an eye on the ultimate goal, and don’t be deflected or detracted from background noise stemming from ideological orthodoxy.

For instance, if the overall goal is to provide security and try to create stability in the West Bank, and if Abbas is useful in achieving that goal, then meetings with him should take place – even though, as the Palestinian leader’s later words made clear, he did not turn into a Lover of Zion.

Bennett added that he personally has no plans to meet with Abbas. Even so, the prime minister clearly realizes the utility of others doing so, and as such green-lighted the meeting by his defense minister. The message: reality is complex and messy.

That complex reality emerged at another point in the press conference when a Channel 14 reporter pointedly quoted remarks Bennett make in the past that the best deterrence to terror is to build settlements after an attack, and noted that not only has he not built any settlements after recent attacks, but has actually evicted settlers.

Bennett’s answer was a study in calm. He said that after it became clear that former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to drag the country to a fifth election, “I made a difficult decision to establish a different government, one in which there is the Right and the Left, and in which there is, inside the coalition, [Ra’am Party head] Mansour Abbas,” whom he described as an Arab leader who has shown great courage.

Once such a government was set up, Bennett said, it was clear that there would be limitations. “Clearly a government with this constellation is limited, but I did not see any government in the last decade establish new settlements,” he added in a reference to Netanyahu.

That answer was a clear recognition of reality.

Bennett did not deny that if he was head of a different government he might have acted differently, but he recognized that in the government he decided to form he was instead dealt a certain hand, and that his maneuverability is limited by the cards he was dealt.

After nearly seven months in power, Bennett has internalized that he can’t show a full straight in a card game if only dealt a pair of aces – and that he must play the cards that he has.

This approach is practical – and also one we find refreshing.