Launch Access Ltd, based near Attleborough in Norfolk, once again delivered the massive UK-wide ‘CanSat’ student space competition this year, the third year in a row the local company has won the contract to provide launch services to the prestigious competition. Launch Access Ltd are the only company in the UK who are currently able to provide immediate launch capability for educational, research and commercial payloads onboard atmospheric and suborbital rocket flights with over 35 years and nearly three thousand launches worth of flight experience.
CanSat UK, run by STEM Learning UK and ESERO UK, is a competition that sees thousands of secondary school and college students each year compete to build their own miniature satellites, before seeing them tested on a real rocket launch. The UK competition attracted well over three hundred teams this year, of which over 150 built satellites which were launched on rockets, making the UK competition the largest of its kind anywhere in the world.
Despite the growing popularity of the competition, and the fact it is delivered by an East Anglian company, the competition continues to only attract a tiny number of entries from East Anglian schools and colleges, a discrepancy that Ben Jarvis, CEO of Launch Access hopes to rectify for the 2026 competition. Ben said:
“Out of the 180 teams who booked to attend the launch events, three of which are held in the region, only a half dozen schools from East Anglia entered this year, which we feel is not representative of the STEM skills and capabilities of the region’s students. We want to help publicise the competition within the region and even offer a free in-person visit to up to six schools or colleges who would like to participate in next year’s competition, to help kick-start their entry”.
Next year’s competition opens for entries in September, and the Launch Access team are keen to visit several of the region’s schools or colleges to encourage them to enter teams in the competition and better represent the region’s prowess in science and engineering. Ben explained:
“If you want to inspire students to a career in STEM subjects, there’s really no better way than giving them a genuinely exciting practical project for them to get their teeth into. Designing and building your own satellite and then seeing it roar into the sky onboard a real rocket is really hard to beat as a memorable experience for students.”
Educators and students can find out more about the CanSat competition at: https://www.stem.org.uk/esero/secondary/competitions-and-challenges/cansat
You can contact Launch Access Ltd and receive support and advice should you be interested in entering the competition through their website at: https://www.launch-access.com/
+44 (0)7436 140185