A hand-held, direct current (DC) powered ophthalmic surgical instrument designed to expel (launch) a prepared folded intraocular lens (IOL) from an attached IOL insertion cartridge into the anterior chamber of the eye in association with cataract removal. It is a motorized device powered from a phacoemulsification system generator intended to carefully exert pressure on the prepared IOL to push it out of the IOL insertion cartridge. It is typically made of metallic and plastic materials and has a central plunger that is activated by a precise mechanism (e.g., a screw thread), and has a mechanism at the distal end to hold/grip the insertion cartridge. This is a reusable device.