Two hundred students from all over the Netherlands came together on Wednesday, February 15th for the test day of the CanSat competition in Katwijk at the Unmanned Valley facility. In the competition, organized by ESERO NL and the Netherlands Space Office, students are challenged to build and program a satellite the size of a soda can. Their self-built mini-satellite was evaluated by students from DARE and they were given insight into the work in the space industry. After the test day, the top 10 finalists of the CanSat competition will be chosen. They will return for the launch day, where their mini-satellite will be launched with a real rocket.

On this test day, the students had an extensive program of presentations and workshops. The students were able to ask any questions about their CanSat and the things they encountered to the students of DARE, the rocket building association of TU Delft. During the Unmanned Valley workshop, the students became drone pilots for a while. In the LED-cube challenge of Fun with Electronics, the students practiced soldering. They created a light show on a printed circuit board on an Arduino Uno – the same one in their own satellite. Lunar Zebro gave a presentation about their mission to the moon, a project that involves many different expertises to build “mini-moon rovers” to explore space.

When you think of space travel, you might envision astronauts and rockets, but space travel has diverse applications. For example, think of satellite applications that can improve food security in developing countries or monitor climate change. Jasper Wamsteker from the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) talked more about career opportunities within the space industry. “I am extremely pleased to see so many participating teams together on this day. As the NSO, we take the initiative for this competition to inspire students to choose a technical education. Space travel is developing rapidly. It’s not a far-off concept; it’s also possible for all the students present here today to work in the space industry. You can dream about it, as it’s very realistic that it won’t just remain a dream.” Aye, team member of SandSatFlow II from the Zandvliet Lyceum in The Hague, is enthusiastic about starting a career in the aerospace industry. “I was already interested, but through the CanSat competition and the presentations, I have a better idea of what is possible.

“This year, 35 teams from the upper years of HAVO and VWO are participating in the CanSat competition. Each team builds and programs a satellite with a self-conceived mission. The satellite takes measurements from the air and sends the data back. Of these, 10 teams with the highest rated satellites will proceed to the launch day on Friday, March 31. From September 2023, teams can register again for the next CanSat competition.

Source: https://esero.nl/artikelen/drukbezochte-cansat-testdag-groot-succes”