As part of the Nanosat Design Competition, sponsored by the UK Space Agency and Department for Transport, the 10 students created a satellite to analyse shorelines and coastal vegetation to assist scientists and policymakers in understanding the impact of climate change on coastal regions.
The judges praised the winning team from Glasgow, called OirthirSAT, for identifying a clear strategy to combat climate change and test new technologies.
They defeated more than 40 teams from across the UK, aged between 16 and 37.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, said:
There has never been a better time to support the next generation of space experts in developing satellites to support our mission against climate change since satellite launches are expected to begin from home soil this year.
My congratulations go out to OirthirSAT and everyone else who made the short list for their dedication throughout this competition, and I salute the creativity all the teams displayed.
By hosting small satellite launches for the first time in 2022, the UK will build on its leadership in the field and generate high-skilled employment all over the continent.
Additionally, this will enable scientists in the UK to use space technology to address global issues like climate change.
The UK Space Agency’s CEO, Dr. Paul Bate, stated:
The use of satellite technology to monitor our climate is essential, and it is wonderful to see so many creative solutions to the planet’s most urgent problems.
I’d like to congratulate the University of Glasgow winners on their winning design.
This year will go down in history for our space industry as the countdown to the first satellite launch from UK soil has begun.
Being the first country in Europe to offer launch will boost our satellite industry further, creating hundreds of new jobs across the UK.
The Nanosat Design Competition opened in November 2021, with aspiring space scientists invited to design a small satellite suitable for launch from the UK to help inform solutions to climate change.
Five teams were chosen from the initial entries to go through to the final stage, which included a four-month mentoring programme with space sector experts.
The OirthirSAT team was announced as the overall winner by ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer at the Farnborough International Airshow today (Friday 22nd July 2022). (Friday 22nd July 2022).
On the OirthirSAT team and a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow, Freya Muir said:
Being the competition winners and having our efforts recognised by the industry makes us incredibly proud.
This is a fantastic chance, and it’s very exciting to be able to create the best design possible to help save the coast from climate change.
The other four finalists were from Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Reliance Precision Engineering in Huddersfield, the University of Kent, and the University of Southampton.
The OirthirSAT team from Glasgow will use the prize money to build its satellite with continued guidance from the competition’s mentors. They want to launch the satellite from the UK in the upcoming years.
Iain Stewart, a minister for Scotland in the UK government, said:
I’d like to congratulate the University of Glasgow students that came up with this creative satellite design. I’m excited to watch how the UK Government’s support contributes to the realisation of their brilliant concepts.
It is encouraging to see Scotland’s young scientists investigating new ways that space technology may help us understand our environment, especially as satellites play an ever-greater role in monitoring and assisting in the fight against climate change.
According to the most recent statistics, Scotland’s space industry is flourishing and now employs about one-fifth (18%) of all space professionals in the UK.
The SaxaVord and Sutherland spaceports in Scotland will also be the site of the first vertical small satellite launches in the United Kingdom in 2019.
The UK Space Agency’s top aim is to level up the space industry, and there are already 1,293 space organisations spread out over the country.
Along with the expansion of regional space clusters, foreign investment, and developing technologies like in-space manufacturing and debris clearance, spaceports are expected to create more jobs in the upcoming years.