UP's Kushinagar to host national model rocketry competition from Oct 27-30

New Delhi | The lush green fields near Kushinagar is set to see hectic activity as the sleepy Uttar Pradesh town hosts around 600 students from across the country for a model rocketry contest later this month.

The CANSAT India Student Competition will have students pursuing higher education test their skills in building satellites, deploying them at an altitude of 1 kilometre, making observations through various payloads, and ensuring the safe return of the rocket and the satellite using parachutes.

"This competition will give students an opportunity to simulate real-world satellite missions and prepare them for challenges and opportunities in the burgeoning space sector in India," Vinod Kumar, Director, Promotion Directorate, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), told PTI.

INSPACe, the space sector promoter and regulator, is organising the CANSAT and model rocketry competition in association with the Astronautical Society of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The grand finale of the competition will be held on the banks of Narayani River at Tumkuhiraj in Kushinagar from October 27-30.

Seven temporary launch pads have been built in a field along the banks of the river, which will see students launch more than 70 rockets over the period of four days.

A total of 71 student teams, comprising around 600 students, faculty members and mentors have qualified for the national finale, with 36 teams in the CANSAT category and 35 teams in Model Rocketry. Participants represent universities and technical institutions from across India.

The competition's mission objectives include the design, development and launch of a model rocket and CANSAT carrying a 1 kilogram payload to an altitude of 1 kilometre, followed by safe payload ejection, landing and recovery.

"Through these challenges, students gain exposure to the fundamentals of rocketry, payload design, and mission management, along with key soft skills such as teamwork, project coordination, and problem-solving," said Kumar, who is also the Executive Secretary of the Astronautical Society of India.

The competition is supported by Shashank Mani, the BJP's Lok Sabha member from Deoria. The technocrat-politician is considered to be a space sector enthusiast and contributed to the drafting of the decadal vision for the sector.

"This competition will excite the imagination of the region and seed a culture of space awareness. It aligns with the mission of Amrit Prayas, our 10-year developmental strategy for the Lok Sabha constituency, which seeks to use space technology in this region," Mani said.

As part of the outreach leading up to the competition, IN-SPACe, along with ISRO, had launched the 'Art-in-Space' and 'Space Quiz 20:20' contests across seven districts of Uttar Pradesh --? Gorakhpur, Deoria, Kushinagar, Jaunpur, Bahraich, Bulandshahr and Gautam Buddha Nagar.

The competitions, conducted by Namaskar Foundation, received an overwhelming response from nearly 73,000 students.

Additionally, to generate deep interest in science and technology amongst the students, an 'Antariksh Rath' equipped with rockets, satellites, astronaut's suits and educational models is spreading awareness amongst students.