Space Minister, Judith Collins today applauded students from University of Canterbury’s Aerospace Club on their success at the world’s largest inter-collegiate rocket engineering competition, the Spaceport America Cup.
“More than 120 teams from 20 countries participated in Spaceport America Cup, with the team from Canterbury University winning in their ‘30,000 Foot’ category against 28 other teams, using off the shelf components,” Ms Collins says.
“Ambition like this is exactly what we need to see more of, and the team’s international success is great to see.
“We want talented people to pursue careers in space-related fields as we strive to grow our economy. The future of our space and aerospace industry is looking bright if this team’s success is anything to go by.
“I hope their success will encourage others to study science, technology, engineering and maths and contribute to the ongoing success of New Zealand’s space economy.”
In an online post, the successful team (pictured) stated: “This week at the Spaceport America Cup, UC Aerospace successfully prepared, launched and recovered our single stage rocket, Kārearea.
“The vehicle successfully launched to our target of around 30K feet, with a nominal flight.
“We’d like to extend a massive thank you to the Spaceport Team, our Sponsors, the UC Mechanical Engineering Faculty, and Experimental Sounding Rocket Association/ Spaceport America Cup for all the assistance in getting to this point.”
