It is part of the Ofeq family, designed and built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the Israeli Ministry of Defence.
Its Systems, Missiles and Space Group led the program, together with the MLM Division, which is responsible for the development of the launcher.
[2][3] Ofek-16 is equipped with an improved version of "Jupiter Space" camera of Elbit Systems, compared to the one present on the OPTSAT-3000 satellite.
The first announcement came from the Ministry of Defence via Twitter, about an hour and a half after liftoff, confirming that Ofek-16 had been deployed successfully into orbit.
[1] The Research and Development for the launch vehicle was a mutual effort of Israel Defense Ministry and the Israeli Aerospace Industries.
[6] The Ministry of Defence said that "[its] and IAI engineers have started a series of pre-planned tests to determine the performance level of the satellite before it begins its full operational activities".
Once it is deemed fully operational, the Ministry will hand over its responsibilities to the Israel Defence Forces '9900' Intelligence Unit.