As anticipation builds ahead of the launch of Artemis II—the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years—hundreds of school students across the UK are already putting their own rocketry skills to the test.
Regional finals showcase rising STEM talent
In a coordinated series of regional finals held on 31 March, more than 240 students from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales competed in the 2026 UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC), underlining the growing scale and ambition of the programme.
In Northern Ireland, 102 students across 22 teams gathered at Langford Lodge, with Friends School Lisburn emerging as regional champions. Scotland’s final, held at Kinross Radio Model Flying Club, saw 77 students from 16 teams compete, with Bellahouston Academy taking top honours. Meanwhile in Wales, 17 teams comprising around 70 students competed at Snowdonia Space Centre, where Haverfordwest High VC School secured victory.
Across all three regions, the brief remained the same: design, build and launch a model rocket to 750 feet while safely returning a raw egg payload to Earth—an exercise that blends aerodynamics, materials engineering and recovery systems.
A pipeline aligned with industry demand
Now in its third decade, UKROC is organised by ADS and backed by industry players including Airbus, Frankenburg Technologies and Saab UK.
Across the regional events, industry and sector leaders consistently pointed to the competition’s role in addressing long-term skills needs.
Paul Oxley, Director General of ADS Skills, described the initiative as “vital to tackling the UK’s growing skills gap,” while ADS regional directors highlighted how programmes like UKROC help translate classroom learning into practical engineering capability.
Sponsors echoed that view. Kata Escott of Airbus Defence and Space emphasised the importance of inspiring future engineers and scientists, while Frankenburg Technologies’ Dan Hallett pointed to the “essential” pipeline from competition to industry. Saab UK’s Andy Fraser added that such initiatives help young people build confidence and take “meaningful steps toward future careers.”
To Buckminster and beyond
All three regional winners, Friends School Lisburn, Bellahouston Academy and Haverfordwest High VC School, will now refine their rocket designs ahead of the UK National Final on 25 June in Buckminster.
From there, the winning team will progress to the international stage at the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, competing against counterparts from the United States, Japan and France.
With more than 1,600 students taking part in nine regional events nationwide, the 2026 competition marks the largest iteration of UKROC to date.
From classroom rockets to lunar missions
The timing is no coincidence. As governments and private players ramp up investment in space exploration, missions like Artemis II are expected to catalyse demand for engineers, scientists and technicians across the supply chain.
Programmes such as UKROC offer an early proving ground—mirroring, in simplified form, the same engineering principles underpinning real-world launch systems: thrust, stability, payload protection and recovery.
With regional champions now preparing for the national stage, the UK’s future aerospace workforce is already taking shape, one carefully engineered launch at a time.
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