CanSat Portugal runs until Sunday in Santa Maria - Communication

Secretaria Regional dos Assuntos Parlamentares e Comunidades

The 11th edition of CanSat Portugal is taking place on the island of Santa Maria, where it ends next Sunday. This is an educational project aimed at secondary school students whose national coordination is under the responsibility of ESERO Portugal in partnership with Ciência Viva and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The project kicked off on Tuesday at a session held at the Atlântida Cine in Vila do Porto, attended by Paulo Estêvão, Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities.

A CANSAT is a microsatellite the size of a soft drink can - the name comes from the English word for "CAN" and the abbreviation "SAT" for satellite.

In this competition, students are challenged to include all basic satellite systems into this small volume, namely the 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 a plane, drone, balloon or even a small rocket, reaching an altitude of 1,000 metres.

In the end, the teams' work will be assessed in two main areas: in relative terms, by how well they fulfil a common mission assigned to all the participants; and in individual terms, by 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 take part in the "Space Engineer for a Day" activity at ESTEC in late June. This is a new learning and celebration event that will replace the usual European launch campaign.