Jelly-fuelled Spacecraft Wins Sutherland School Rocket Challenge

15th May 2021
Jelly-fuelled Spacecraft Wins Sutherland School Rocket Challenge

Sutherland school rocket competition, initiated by Sutherland Spaceport, announced the winners of its latest design challenge among primary pupils. The challenge was organised by Melness Crofters’ Estate, seeking to build the first-ever carbon-neutral spaceport in Sutherland. One of the competition winners was a jelly-fuelled spacecraft.

Highlights of Sutherland School Rocket Challenge

During the lockdown, children from Tongue Primary School had a chance to express their creativity with rocket design. The competition results truly impressed Sutherland spaceport representatives and Orbex Space, the site’s primary resident sharing the vision of carbon-neutral launches.

Orbex Space has provided primary school pupils with laser-cut wooden templates to create their rocket designs. However, children were also free to use any other materials of their choosing.

Seven-year-old Lucy Mackay took first place in the P1-3 category. Her jelly-fuelled spacecraft was built to go to the moon; on one condition, though — it had to fly over Canada to pick up some of her family members who have relocated there.

Nine-year-old Connie Gordon became the winner of the P4-7 section. Her design was based on solar panels and heat-resistant covers.

Sutherland Space representatives were impressed by children’s dedication and creativity. Dorothy Pritchard, Melness Crofters’ Estate chairwoman, noted that the latest Sutherland school rocket challenge was only one example of how the spaceport can engage with the local community.

Orbex Space CEO Chris Larmour mentioned that choosing a winner was extremely challenging because all submissions were very detailed and imaginative. He believes that the competition was useful for children because it inspired interest in space and innovation.

Hopefully, the latest challenge from Sutherland Spaceport and Orbex Space will inspire budding rocket scientists to pursue STEM careers. In the meantime, Sutherland Spaceport was granted planning permission in August 2020 and should start construction in mid-2021.

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