Santa Maria hosts third edition of CanSat Junior Azores - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação, Cultura e Desporto

On May 30 and 31, the island of Santa Maria hosted the third edition of CanSat Junior Azores, an educational initiative involving 15 teams of 78 students and 15 teachers, representing the nine islands of the archipelago. The event was marked by science, innovation and team spirit.

With a view to motivating young people towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas, CanSat Júnior challenged basic education school students to build functional microsatellites - the so-called CanSats - simulating a miniature space mission, from launch to data collection and analysis.

This edition was a true example of regional inclusion and diversity, with teams from all islands of the archipelago actively participating in this initiative that promotes interest in space technologies and applied sciences.

At the end of the competition, the three best teams were distinguished:

• 1st place: R0cket Fus10n, from Madalena do Pico Basic Education and Secondary School
• 2nd place: ESAQ-AIR, from Antero de Quental Secondary School (São Miguel)
• 3rd place: WhalAIR-SAT, from Lajes do Pico Basic Education and Secondary School

The third edition of CanSat Junior has once again established itself as a benchmark initiative for promoting scientific and technological skills among young Azoreans, stimulating curiosity, teamwork and problem-solving - essential skills for the challenges of the future.

Cansat Junior Azores is organised by the Azorean Government in partnership with the Portuguese delegation of the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO Portugal), Ciência Viva - National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, and the Portuguese Space Agency - Portugal Space. It has the support of the Municipality of Vila do Porto, LeoLabs, EDA, ANACOM, Mirpuri Foundation, OASA, RAEGE-Az, Atlantic Spaceport Consortium, Santa Maria Museum, Santo Espírito Parish Council and NAV Portugal.