First of its kind rocket engine competition taking place at Aylesbury Vale business park

An Aylesbury Vale business park is set to host a first of its kind rocket science competition.

Westcott Venture Park is hosting Race2Space between 3-7 July, it is a national propulsion competition where budding rocket scientists will showcase their knowledge.

Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is sponsoring the contest which is aimed at inspiring students craving work in the space industry.

The University of Sheffield has organised the event which is said to be the first competition worldwide to focus on the development of bi propellant and hybrid rocket engines.

Students from universities across the UK will take part in the week-long UK Race2Space event where they will hot-fire rocket engines.

Young scientists will use machines they have designed and built on a test stand at Westcott Space Cluster within the Westcott Enterprise Zone.

Race2Space is also hosting a Student Rocket Engine Symposium - a space sector education networking event where academics, students and industry figures will come together to see the results of the competition.

A networking event will be hosted by Satellite Applications Catapult.

Alistair John, deputy director of aerospace engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: “We are grateful for the support the Bucks LEP is providing for this event which will help to provide the critical training needed to fill the high-level skills gap for students entering the space industry.

“UK Race2Space is about showing we have top class students who are willing, able and prepared to grow the space sector in the UK. We know we have the talent in the UK but to compete on the world stage we need to increase the number of passionate, highly skilled graduates entering the sector.”

It is hoped that the competition will inspire students to pursue space science and engineering, and get more diverse candidates studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, aiming for careers in the rapidly growing £15 billion UK space sector.

Other rocket science companies based at Westcott Venture Park will take part in the event including European Astrotech, Protolaunch and Airborne Engineering with propellant handling training provided by Plastron.

Matt Peachey, head of Enterprise Zone Development at Buckinghamshire LEP, added: “We are pleased to provide sponsorship to support this event which is an important step towards increasing the skillset and knowledge of students to generate a pipeline of talent for the space industry.

“Skills support and development is central to creating the conditions for sustained innovation, excellence, and growth for our Buckinghamshire businesses. This sponsorship demonstrates our commitment to developing the skills of the next generation of engineers and inspiring them to pursue space science and engineering careers in Buckinghamshire.

“Race2Space is also a great example of companies from within the Westcott Enterprise Zone working together to provide students with hands-on experience of space science and engineering, showing them the range of opportunities out there.”

More information can be found on the competition website here.

Kathie Bowden, education and outreach team, UK Space Agency said: “The development of skills which will support the sector and the government’s ambitions for the UK in space are a crucial and fundamental part of the national space strategy.”