Meet the Shortlisted Teams

Moving our focus to the shortlisted teams, we’re now delighted to introduce you to the teams and an insight into what inspired them to get involved with the LaunchUK Nanosat Design Competition.

With the shortlisting now completed, we’re proud to introduce the teams and to share more with you about their drive behind entering the competition. The teams have taken part in a mini-series of online events and activities to provide support and expertise that has culminated in the teams reaching the Systems Requirement Stage (SSR) of their projects.

From the Shortlisting Team:

“It was a pleasure and a privilege for the shortlisting team to be able to assess close to 50 excellent nanosat designs from teams and individuals across the UK. All of the designs we considered brought forward fantastic ideas of how nanosats can be used to tackle climate change, and the innovation and creative thinking in the designs is a testament to the young space talent in the UK. 

All the teams who submitted designs can be very proud of their work, and be sure in the knowledge that there is a bright future in space ahead of them.”

Introducing…

Cetus from Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School: Joseph and Alex.

“As we are both passionate about aerospace engineering and climate science, it felt sensible for us to enter this competition, potentially aiding the UK’s response to climate change. Additionally, we also wanted to have a bit of fun whilst extending our abilities and knowledge”.

Decstar from the University of Kent: Macy, Luke, Luke and Alice.

“Working in the space industry has been our dream for as long as we can remember, and it is our belief that tackling climate change and protecting our planet is the most important global challenge that we all face. It can be hard for individuals to make a difference, so when we saw the call for applications, we knew this was our chance to use our passion to develop a mission that will help the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, and we simply had to apply”.

NORI from Kirklees College and Reliance Precision Ltd: Maria, Courtney, Daniel, Charles, Tom, Daniel, Rory, Sam, Madison and Aaron.

“For us as apprentices, this is a real opportunity for us to progress our careers, and to prove to the world what we are capable of achieving. Nothing is impossible, the sky is never the limit!” – Charles Mukoyi (Space Assembly Engineer for Team NORI)”

OirthirSat from the University of Glasgow: Theo, Nektarios, Natalia, Joe, Ignacio, Gregor, Georgios, Freya, Diego and Civan.

OirthirSAT represents ten University of Glasgow students dedicated to furthering our understanding of coastal processes and hazards via simplistic and efficient Earth observation methods. The OirthirSAT nanosatellite mission (oirthir being Scottish Gaelic for ‘coast’) aims to make use of onboard processing to automatically extract coastal water and vegetation boundaries whilst in space, significantly cutting down lead-time between Earth being imaged and a scientist or policymaker holding vital information about changes across the coastal environment. By providing rapid, simplistic measures of coastal change, decision makers can be armed with the best tools for directing support towards the people that need it most.

Southampton Spaceflight from the University of Southampton: Robert, Hazel, Ceris, Harvey, Ethan

Our team shares a passion for sustainability, having worked on previous projects covering air pollution, peatland conservation and space debris. This competition is our chance to join the fight against climate change by pushing the boundaries of Earth Observation technology

LaunchUK is a partnership between the UK Space Agency and the Department for Transport, and supported by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The Nanosat Design Competition is designed to inspire and engage young people about launch from the UK and to encourage engagement with STEM subjects.