Athlone students to compete at finals of mini satellite competition

Students from the Marist College in Athlone will be competing this week at the national final of a competition which challenges young people to create a miniature satellite the size of a soft drink can.

The CanSat Ireland National Final for 2022/2023 is taking place in Portlaoise. A European Space Agency initiative, the CanSat project sees students competing to create a miniature satellite that is designed with the aim of completing a scientific mission.

CanSat Ireland is run by the European Space Education Research Office (ESERO) in association with MTU Blackrock Castle Observatory.

A team of students from the Marist will represent Athlone at the national final tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday, where they will compete with five other teams from around the country. The local students involved are Donal McDermott, O’Tega Ahwinahwi, Eoin Kane and Adam Kenny.

Their CanSat will be flown on a rocket at Emo Court before being jettisoned and falling to Earth using a parachute. Each team will attempt to complete their scientific mission before their CanSat lands safely. The winning team will go on to represent Ireland in the European Final later this summer.

Irish teams have performed incredibly well at the European competition in recent years, with Marist College representatives winning the competition outright in 2018.

While registration for this year’s competition is closed, the organisers are encouraging interested students and teachers to get ready now for the 2023/2024 season, which will launch in September 2023.

The competition is aimed at students from Transition year to Leaving Cert level, and more details are available at: https://esero.ie/cansat/