More than 70 students will launch microsatellites in Ponte de Sor

More than 70 students from the 3rd cycle of basic education built and will test microsatellites, the size of a soda can, in Ponte de Sor, on Friday and Saturday, in the final of the CanSat Júnior initiative.

The Ponte de Sor Municipal Aerodrome, in the district of Portalegre, will be the “stage” for the 5th edition of this project by ESERO Portugal (European Space Education Resource Office), an educational program by the European Space Agency and Ciência Viva.

In a statement, the organization explained this Tuesday that “the more than 70 students from all schools in the country will be organized into 14 teams”, with the aim of testing “the microsatellites that they built in their respective schools and that are “ the size of a soda can ”.

Contacted by Lusa news agency, the executive director of Ciência Viva, Ana Noronha, highlighted that the students have been working on this project “since the beginning of the school year”.

Each CanSat, according to promoters, is equipped with sensors and an antenna to communicate with the ground base, with the mission consisting of measuring air temperature and atmospheric pressure and transmitting the data to the ground station.

The highlight takes place on Saturday, from 9:30 am, with the launch of the microsatellites and the presentations to the jury.

“The microsatellites will be launched by drones and will obtain data, as they fall through the atmosphere, on pressure and temperature”, highlighted the executive director of Ciência Viva.

According to Ana Noronha, these microsatellites will be launched from a height of “100 meters” , since it is CanSat Júnior.

“It’s a bit of preparation for the National CanSat , which [has microsatellites launched] using rockets and is for secondary school students, with more complex projects ,” he added.

The CanSat Junior final program also includes a visit to the facilities of the company Tekever, a Portuguese company with a unit at the Ponte de Sor Municipal Aerodrome and which is dedicated to the construction of drones – unmanned aircraft – and which recently gained unicorn status.

The session called “Your wings start here! – careers in the aeronautical sector”, organized by the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), will also take place on Saturday.

According to the promoters, the winners of CanSat Júnior will be awarded an internship at ML Analytics , a Portuguese company specialized in data analysis using Artificial Intelligence (AI).