This is what Uri Oron, the director of the Israeli Space Agency, said in an interview with the Hidan website: One of the agency's roles is to cultivate human capital, so that the students involved can in the future integrate into both academia and industry.
"The goal of the Tevel program is to give dozens of students a sense of competence and motivation to engage in the field of space, through tangible activities that include building, launching, and monitoring satellite activity." This is what Brigadier General (Res.) Uri Oron, director of the Israel Space Agency, said in an interview with the Hidan website.
Tevel 2 is a joint venture of the Israel Space Agency, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Tel Aviv University and nine local authorities across Israel. The satellites were built under the management and guidance of the Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University, at research and development centers in nine municipalities across the country, with a unique combination of populations: five municipalities from the Jewish sector (Yeruham, Shaar Hanegev, Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Shmuel and Herzliya), three from the Arab sector (Ein Mahal, Taibeh and Kafr Qara) and one from the Druze sector (Yarka).
"In the 'Tevel' program, (Students Build Satellites) in which students build satellites. In the first cycle, eight satellites were launched in January 2022, and in the second cycle, nine satellites were launched in recent days. The goal of the program is to give dozens of students a sense of competence and motivation to engage in the field of space, through tangible activities that include building, launching, and monitoring satellite activity."
"The reason for implementing the project lies in the fact that one of the agency's roles is to cultivate human capital, so that the students involved can in the future integrate into both academia and industry. As part of a two-year program, and in collaboration with experienced entities such as Tel Aviv University, the activity is being carried out with funding identified with the right to space."
The challenges of war
"The project is being carried out in a challenging environment," explains Oron: "When most of the program's students were required to evacuate following events in the area - and the change is certainly noticeable from the first cycle, in which satellites were built with only a basic scientific payload, to the second cycle, this time in which an advanced payload was added to collect data (such as radiation and oxygen) that is transmitted in real time to ground stations. This gives students the opportunity to directly monitor the satellite's activity and develop an accompanying educational program."
"The project began in June 2023, and after a period of interruption due to external circumstances, activities continued remotely. Construction lasted around 7–8 months, during which a system was built to commemorate the fallen – with, from October 20th until a certain date, telemetric updates that included changing the names of the fallen occurred every XNUMX seconds, both in the case of civilians and soldiers."
Monitoring graduates for guidance
"One of the key lessons from Operation Tevel 1 is that there was no systematic monitoring of the project's progress and the students' development after the launch, nor was a process defined for close guidance of the participants. In light of this, we decided to improve the process by establishing a continuous data collection mechanism, which will allow for real-time monitoring and lead to closer cooperation with the military authorities and educational institutions, with the aim of ensuring support even after the end of military service." According to him, so far all development has been between the graduates and the military or potential employer, and no one knows who was chosen and why.
In conclusion, Oron says: "I would like to emphasize that the space sector constitutes an essential pillar of Israel's national vision, and that it should be viewed as a national resource and asset, the basis for a modern economy. We must leverage existing resources, while adapting to global changes, in order to convert the potential of space to provide economic and social support, as well as enhance its contribution in areas such as communications, environmental protection, and agriculture."
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