Please join the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 10:30AM EST / 5:30PM ILT, for a virtual talk with Dr. Deganit Paikowsky on, "Israel's Trajectory to Space: National Security, Innovation, Politics, and Inspiration." Why did Israel acquire the capacity to launch and develop satellites on its own at a time only very few countries have done so? This talk will present the national-security needs, drivers, and actions that led Israel in its trajectory to space. It will discuss the turning point in which Israel also turned to advance a national space ecosystem and entrepreneurship and innovation beyond the national efforts. Dr. Deganit Paikowsky is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Non-Resident Scholar at the Space Policy Institute of the Elliott School for Foreign Affairs, George Washington University. She also serves as a Vice President at the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) on behalf of the Israel Space Agency. In 2017, Cambridge University Press published her book "The Power of the Space Club," considered by many as fundamental reading for global space policy researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers. Dr. Paikowsky formerly served as a senior fellow with the Strategy and Capacity Building Division of the Israel National Cyber Directorate and Managing Coordinator of several national committees defining Israel's civil space policy. She also held the position of academic director for the Yuval Neeman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security at Tel-Aviv University, where she developed the research portfolio of Global Space Activity and Global Cyber Activity.