About 690 students from 13 countries launch rockets in Portugal at European Rocketry Challenge
The seventh edition of the competition, created by the Portuguese Space Agency, now counts the European Space Agency as a strategic partner providing financial support.
Around 690 students from 13 countries are in Constância for the 7th edition of the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC), with rocket launches planned up to an altitude of nine kilometres, according to Portugal Resident.
The report, the only source for this story, says launches began at the Santa Margarida Military Camp. Teams expect their rockets to reach 3,000 or 9,000 metres, depending on each team's goals. American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson attended the opening.
Twenty-one university teams are competing, and two more teams are following the event without taking part. The competition covers three types of propulsion: eight teams use liquid, five use hybrid and eight use solid. Sixteen teams fly engines they built themselves, while the five first-time teams use commercial engines.
Judges look at more than flight performance. Portugal Resident reported that projects are also recognised for vehicle design, teamwork, payload and technical documentation. The main prize goes to the team with the best overall performance.
This year matters for the event because of a bigger role for the European Space Agency (ESA). Through a bilateral agreement with the Portuguese Space Agency, ESA has become a strategic partner of EuRoC. On top of the technical expertise it gave in earlier editions, it will now provide significant financial support, according to the report. The partnership is part of a new ESA university initiative meant to bring higher education closer to the space sector.
In a statement, Marco Ferrazzani, ESA Director of Resources and Services, stressed the importance of preparing students for the real challenges of the space sector by letting them turn academic knowledge into practical experience, Portugal Resident reported.
The event has grown since the Portuguese Space Agency created it in 2020. Its first edition had six teams and fewer than 100 participants. This year it drew a record 64 applications from 26 countries. Speaking to Lusa, Marta Gonçalves, head of Education and Science projects at the Portuguese Space Agency, highlighted the progress of Portuguese university aerospace projects. The report says no Portuguese team was ready to compete when EuRoC began.
Portugal sent eight applications this year, its highest number ever, and for the second year in a row it had more applications than any other country. Two Portuguese teams are competing: RED, from Instituto Superior Técnico, which has taken part since 2021, and MAST, from the University of Minho, in its first appearance.
Four of the 25 teams first selected withdrew. Portugal's North Space could not finish all the mandatory safety tests before the deadline, and Spain's ARES had similar problems. Ireland's UCC RSES pulled out because of engine problems. Greece's ASAT was also left out, but the report does not say why.
Several things are not yet known. The report does not give the amount of ESA's financial support or say which teams have flown so far and how they did. The winners will be named at the closing ceremony and prize-giving on Wednesday.
