Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities
The 11th edition of CanSat Portugal, an educational project aimed at secondary school students, whose national coordination is in charge of ESERO Portugal, in partnership with Ciência Viva and the European Space Agency (ESA), is taking place on the island of Santa Maria, where it ends next Sunday.
The project kicked off on Tuesday, in a session held at Atlântida Cine, in Vila do Porto, which included the participation of Paulo Estêvão, Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities.
A CANSAT is a microsatellite that is the size of a soda can – the name comes from the English word for can, “CAN”, and the abbreviation “SAT”, for satellite.
In this competition, students are challenged to integrate all the basic systems of a satellite in this reduced volume, namely its antenna (transmitter), battery and sensors.
In the competition, participating teams must design a CANSAT capable of surviving a launch that can be carried out from an airplane, drone, balloon or even a small rocket, reaching an altitude of 1000 meters.
In the end, the teams’ work will be evaluated in two main aspects: in relative terms, by the way they carry out a common mission assigned to all participants; and in individual terms, for the creativity and scientific value of an extra scientific mission chosen by the team itself.
This year, 16 teams were selected for the final competition. The winning team will be invited by ESA to participate in ‘Space Engineer for a Day’ at ESTEC at the end of June. This is a new learning and celebration event that will replace the usual European launch campaign.
