European Rocketry Challenge
The European Rocketry Challenge is a rocketry competition that has been taking place since 2020 and is aimed at university student teams from all over Europe. The competition is organised by the Portuguese Space Agency and takes place annually in Portugal. The event aims to foster education and innovation in aerospace engineering, and other fields, by allowing students to demonstrate their self-built rockets.
The EuRoC was launched in 2020, as a way to support students preparing for the Spaceport America Cup whose plans were disrupted by border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the European Rocketry Challenge, the aims to promote space technology and cooperation between European universities and research institutions in Europe.
The Competition
As a competition, the EuRoC involves various challenges in which teams have to design, build and launch rockets. The tasks may vary from year to year, but they are designed to require technical development from the students. Participants not only have to develop a working rocket, but also fulfill certain objectives, such as reaching a certain altitude and carrying a payload to perform scientific experiments during the flight.Rockets are built from a variety of materials including wood, aluminium, PA-12 and glass fibre composite.
Categories and Competitions
Participants compete in various categories, depending on the target altitude of their rockets and the complexity of their designs. The launches are divided into two altitude categories, each further subdivided based on the type of propellant used :- 3,000 metres altitude
- 9,000 metres altitude
Competition History
EuRoC 2020
The EuRoC was held for the first time in 21 to 24 October 2020 in Ponte de Sor, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural edition featured six teams and approximately 120 students. Since then, the competition has grown steadily, with around 600 students and over 20 teams participating annually.The participating teams in the first edition with their respective projects were Space Team Aachen with CARL, Project EULER, Copenhagen Suborbitals with DanSTAR, Air ESIEA and TU Wien Space Team with Hound and STR-10.
EuRoC 2021
19 teams with 400 students from 12 European countries took part in the competition.- 2Space
- Aerospace Team Graz
- AGH Space Systems
- Akademische Raumfahrtinitiative Schweiz
- Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team
- Bath University Rocket Team
- CranSEDS
- DanSTAR
- Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering
- endeavour
- EPFL Rocket Team
- Imperial College London Rocketry
- PoliWRocket
- Propulse NTNU
- RED - Rocket Experiment Division
- SimLE SimBa
- Skyward Experimental Rocketry
- Space Team Aachen
EuRoC 2022
The 2022 edition of EuRoC saw the participation of 25 university teams, comprising a total of 600 students from across Europe. The paddock and preparation area were located at Ponte de Sor Aerodrome, while rocket launches were conducted at the Santa Margarida Military Camp.- Aerospace Team Graz - ASTG
- Akademische Raumfahrtinitiative Schweiz - ARIS
- Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team - ASAT
- Bath Rocket Team - BRT
- BME Aerospace - BMEAERO
- BME Suborbitals - BMESUB
- CranSEDS
- Endeavour
- EPFL Rocket Team - ERT
- Faraday Rocketry UPV
- Fénix Rocket Team - Fénix
- Hybrid Engine Development - HyEnD
- Imperial College London Rocketry - ICLR
- LeoFly - LF
- PoliWRocket
- Rocket Experiment Division - RED '
- Skyward Experimental Rocketry - Skyward ER '
- Student Team for Aerospace and Rocketry - STAR
- TU Wien Space Team - TUST
EuRoC 2023
The competition took place from 10 to 16 October 2023 with 25 teams in Constância, and 13 successful launches.- Aerospace Team Graz
- TU Wien Space Team
- CTU Space Research
- Danish Student Association for Rocketry
- Air ESIEA
- Association for Space Technologies & Research Applications
- WARR Rocketry
- Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team
- PoliTo Rocket Team
- Skyward Experimental Rocketry
- Propulse NTNU
- PUT Rocketlab
- North Space
- Rocket Experiment Division
- Faraday Rocketry UPV
- Student Team for Aerospace and Rocketry
- Association of Engineering Students in Rocketry
- Akademische Raumfahrt Initiative Schweiz
- EPFL Rocket Team
- HyPower Bristol
- Imperial College London Rocketry
EuRoC 2024
- Aerospace Team Graz
- Association of Engineering Students in Rocketry
- Bath Rocket Team
- PoliWRocket
- Porto Space Team
- Skyward Experimental Rocketry '''
- AGH Space Systems
- HyPower Bristol
- Imperial College London Rocketry
- Projekt Sunride
- TU Wien Space Team
- WARR Rocketry
- BiSKY Team
- BME Suborbitals
- Ignite UiT
- PoliTo Rocket Team
- Student Team for Aerospace and Rocketry
- TU Darmstadt Space Technology
- University of Limerick Aeronautical Society High-Powered Rocketry
- USN Horizon
- ALS Rocketry Club
- Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering
- ICARUS PoliTo DART
- Laboratorio para Experimentacion en el Espacio y Microgravedad
- Rocket Experiment Division '''
EuRoC 2025
- ASPiRE – Aerospace Research Engineering Greece
- ASTG – Aerospace Team Graz
- ARIS – Akademische Raumfahrt Initiative Schweiz
- ASAT – Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team
- ÆSIR – Association of Engineering Students in Rocketry
- Aurora – Aurora Rocketry
- BRT – Bath Rocket Team
- BEARS – Berlin Experimental Astronautics Research Student Team e.V.
- BME Suborbitals – BME Suborbitals
- CTU – CTU Space Research
- DanSTAR – Danish Student Association for Rocketry
- DARE – Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering
- ERT – EPFL Rocket Team
- FRUPV – Faraday Rocketry UPV
- HyEnd – Hybrid Engine Development
- HPB – HyPower Bristol
- Ignite – Ignite UiT
- ICLR – Imperial College London Rocketry
- NS – North Space
- PoliW – PoliWRocket
- PST – Porto Space Team FEUP
- RED – Rocket Experiment Division
- SKY – Skyward Experimental Rocketry
- SKA Rocketry – Students’ Space Association Rocketry
- TUDSaT – TU Darmstadt Space Technology
- TUST – TU Wien Space Team
- UM Rocketry – UM Rocketry
- WARR''' – Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt