CanSat National Finals

Alleyn's Year 12 team Orion took part in the CanSat National Finals launch this week which took place at Elvington Airfield in York. Take a look at their slow mo launch video here.

On the first day, we reached York and went to the STEM centre, where we were greeted by the other teams who had got through to the final. We had time to discuss our projects together, and see the different CanSats. We had time to work on our projects, in preparation for the Launch day tomorrow. Our Team was to able to explore the City, visiting notable locations such as York Minster and Shambles street in the free time we had in the evening.

The National Finals launch was an exciting endeavour. We arrived at the Elvington Airfield (in York) After over 6 months of toiling on the project, our hard work and efforts were not wasted. We are excited to analyse the data collected and even through the hours of stress during the launch,  our CanSat landed in one piece and we  conclude that it was a very success Launch. However, the trip was not over, and our Team spent the rest of the evening rehearsing the presentation.

Thursday was the last day of the trip. Each team had to present to a panel of judges (and other teams could watch) and our team had rigorously prepared for the event. We presented our informative and concise evaluation of our Project, and relief washed over as our part of the competition was finished. Ian Annett (Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency) then gave an inspiring and engaging talk about exploring careers in the Space industry. Though our time was cut short due to the Train timings, we were awarded our Gold Industrial Cadets Award, as well as the award for the best scientific value, finishing this Competition in 2nd Place!

Team Orion has learnt so much from this competition, developing many new skills and took every opportunity to make our project stand out. We look forward to mentor next year’s aspiring CanSatters!