Budding rocket scientists put designs to the test in outback competition

Imagine building your own rocket from scratch and then launching it several kilometres into the sky. That is exactly what about 20 teams of university students did at a remote sheep station called White Cliffs in outback New South Wales, Australia. The students came from across Australia, New Zealand, and even as far away as India to take part in the third Australian Universities Rocket Competition, known as AURC. The event brought together young engineers and scientists who spent up to a year designing and building their rockets before the big launch day.

The teams did not just show up and press a button. Each group designed and built their rockets from the ground up, often making their own parts at their university workshops. AURC event director Jennifer He explained that the students handled all the testing and technical checks themselves. She said the competition also helped students build teamwork and organisational skills, not just technical ones.

University of Queensland student Thomas Molesworth said it was exciting to see international teams competing this year. He pointed out that no computer model can fully predict how a rocket will behave on the launch pad. 'As much as we can model and simulate, there's really no telling how it will perform on the pad,' he said. For him, the event was a great chance to use classroom skills to tackle real engineering challenges.

One competitor who clearly loves everything about rockets is Matthew Sutcliffe, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering student from the University of Technology Sydney. He was competing at White Cliffs for the second time, and his passion for space has been with him since childhood. His team's rocket came within just 40 feet — about 12 metres — of their 10,000-foot target height. 'All the nerves that were building up to it and just the relief after a perfect flight — it just made my whole day,' he said.

White Cliffs sits more than 1,000 kilometres north-west of Sydney, making it a great spot for rocket launches. Liam Grieve, operations director of Endeavour Aerospace, said the area has clear airspace and sits 14 kilometres from the nearest people. This means that if something goes wrong, only those at the launch site could be affected. 'It is rocket science, at the end of the day, and if anything was to go wrong the area can be contained,' he said.

The competition has grown a great deal since it first launched in 2019, and this was the second time the event was held in outback New South Wales. Australian Youth Aerospace Association president Myrthe Snoeks said watching students succeed — and even fail — was an incredible experience. She hopes more international teams will join in the future. 'Seeing everybody work on these projects, seeing how proud they are when they launch successfully, but also seeing the complexity and growth every year — it's a privilege to witness,' she said.