JERUSALEM, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Nine miniature satellites designed and developed by Israeli high school students were launched into space on Saturday, the Israel Space Agency (ISA) said.

Calling it "the largest Israeli satellite constellation built by students in nine municipalities," the ISA said on social media platform X that the satellites were launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The satellites were launched at 8:43 a.m. local time (0643 GMT), according to SpaceX.

The satellites, including the first-ever Druze satellite developed by students from the Druze community, were deployed into an orbit about 500 km above Earth, where they will remain for about three years with the mission of measuring cosmic radiation and its effects on electronic components, the ISA said in a separate statement on its website.

The development of the satellites was part of the Tevel 2 national project led by the ISA and Tel Aviv University, at a cost of 10.5 million shekels (about 2.88 million U.S. dollars), the statement said.

The project aims to connect different Israeli communities and promote equal opportunities in science and technology education, the statement said. Enditem

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