Egypt sent a mini-satellite to the International Space Station, where it will be put into orbit next week, a senior Egyptian official said on Sunday.

The CubeSat was completely designed, built and tested in Egypt, Mohamed Zahran, chief of the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, told Egypt's MENA news agency.

Egypt cooperated with the Japanese Space Agency in testing the satellite before being shipped to the United States, where it was launched Saturday among other items into the space by a Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Zahran added.

Zahran said that the satellite is 1 kg in mass and cost around 1 million Egyptian pounds (about 60,000 U.S. dollars).

The Egyptian official pointed out that the satellite is meant for research purposes, adding that it will also test space systems developed by the Egyptian space agency.

Another satellite of the same kind will be sent to space within two months, he revealed.