Eight mini-satellites made by Israeli students have been launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Eight high school teams from across the country participated in the effort in collaboration with the Israeli Space Agency and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The satellites will perform a variety of tasks and experiments, enabling their control through communication stations located at various locations throughout Israel. In total, the Falcon rocket was launched with 105 satellites from different countries.

Engineer Ariel Gomez said it was the result of many years of hard work by high school students three or four years ago. i24NEWS.

“These low-altitude satellites can be controlled from Earth, and these high school kids are going to guide them,” he explained.

High school students and Israeli space agency officials gathered in Herzlia on Thursday to watch the launch live via video from Florida.

“I was fascinated by this wonderful event,” Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash-Hakohan said in a video conference.

“Student groups from all parts of Israel – from Nazareth to Gwat Shmuel, Jews and Arabs, from the South and the Middle East – show how science and technology connect people,” she said.