MP promotes 11–18-year-olds interested in STEM to reach for the stars in the Rocketry Challenge 2022

Damien Moore MP is encouraging any 11–18-year-old interested in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) to enter the UK’s largest youth rocket competition, the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UK ROC).

Registered teams from Southport will compete against other students in the region for a place in the national finals in May 2022 to be crowned national champions. The national champions will win an all-expenses paid trip to Farnborough to represent the UK in a fly off against international teams from the USA, Japan, and France at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2022.

Previously, in 2018 at Paris Airshow, the UK was crowned international champions, and this year the UK will seek to defend and retain its international champion title on home turf at Farnborough International Airshow in July 2022.

UK ROC involves the design, build, and launch of a model rocket, with the payload of two raw eggs representing the astronauts. The rocket must get closest to 835 feet in altitude within a goal timeframe of 41-44 seconds, and the “astronauts” must remain intact throughout the launch and landing.

Teams across the UK compete regionally to qualify for the national finals with the winners representing the UK in a fly-off against international teams at the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow. Rules governing the competition are altered each year to encourage innovative thinking amongst participants and ensures previous designs can’t be repeated.

UK ROC enables young people to gain practical insight into how STEM subjects are used by the aerospace, defence, security, and space sectors, which support more than one million jobs across the country, providing high-wage and high skilled careers that boost local economies and communities.

Damien Moore, MP for Southport, said: “The UK Youth Rocketry Challenge provides 11–18-year-olds with a unique opportunity to work together and put into practice key skills in engineering and physics, inspiring and paving the way for them to become the future engineers and scientists our country needs.

“The rocketry challenge is a one-of-a-kind hands-on learning opportunity for 11–18-year-olds, and based on what I saw when I met with the previous winners in Parliament, it is also a lot of fun. I really encourage anyone aged 11-18 in Southport who is an aspiring astronaut, physicist, engineer, or scientist to enter this competition to gain invaluable experience, and of course to have the opportunity to launch their own rocket.

“I wish the best of luck to Meols Cop High School who have already entered, but there is still time for others interested in entering this free competition to do so. I look forward to supporting and cheering on all the Southport participants as they reach for the stars and hopefully welcome back their “astronauts” uncracked.”