If you were going to launch a rocket into space, which direction would you do it? East or west?
Most countries launch space rockets eastwards because the Earth spins west to east and launching eastwards gives rockets a boost from the Earth’s rotational speed.
But Israel, with its Shavit space launch vehicle, launches due west against the planet’s spin. This ensures that the rockets fly over the Mediterranean Sea and not over Israel and then neighbouring Arab countries, some of which remain hostile to it.
This is done for the protection of populations and because Israel does not want its Arab neighbours mistaking a space launch for a missile attack.
This is one of many facts which I discovered while reading “The Future Of Geography” by Tim Marshall.