Search is on for young space entrepreneurs ahead of first UK rocket launches

Britain’s first satellite launches are set to take place this year, and The SatelLife Competition is on the hunt for the best new ideas on how to use data collected from space to benefit daily life.

This ranges from supporting local communities and the NHS, to monitoring the environment and tackling climate change.

In 2019, Portsmouth’s Lowena Hull – then aged 17 - wowed judges with an idea to track abandoned shopping trolleys using satellites and won as a result.

She said: ‘The SatelLife competition was an amazing chance to research into all the different ways satellite data can be implemented to help tackle a whole host of problems in both the local community and nationwide,’ she said.

‘My advice for anyone looking to get involved with the SatelLife Competition is to take a good look around and think: are there any problems either locally or globally I would like to try and solve?

‘How might I be able to use satellite data to come up with a solution?’

The competition is now in its fifth year, with previous winning ideas, including drones carrying medical supplies, a pin badge to monitor air pollution and the outcome of Hull’s winning idea - an app to track abandoned shopping trolleys.

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake, who studied at the University of Portsmouth and was born in Chichester, said: ‘It has been amazing to see so many people inspired by my mission to the International Space Station.

‘I hope that when satellites launch from the UK, it will help to show young people that there are all sorts of jobs in the space sector, including developing new applications for the data we get from space.

‘Satellites are playing a huge role in our daily lives, from monitoring climate change, to watching television and I know that young people will have some fantastic ideas for new ways they can improve our lives.’

This year will see the first satellite launches taking place from UK spaceports, with the first horizontal launch from a carrier aircraft expected from Spaceport Cornwall, followed by vertical launch from Shetland’s SaxaVord Spaceport and Space Hub Sutherland.

Satellites support the economy and everyday life, and this competition gives people aged 11-22 the chance to test their ideas with space experts and perhaps one day become part of one of the UK’s fastest growing industries..

Science minister George Freeman said: ‘The SatelLife Competition is designed to inspire the next generation of British space scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs.

‘It’s helping our young innovators unleash their imaginations and turn their ideas

into real-life proposals that could eventually transform our lives - from supporting our transition to Net Zero, to improving local healthcare services.’

Prize money for winning entrants will be shared across three age groups; 11-14, 15-18 and 19-22.

The judging panel will be made up of experts including industry representatives and the UK Space Agency, Satellite Applications Catapult and European Space Agency (ESA).

All winners will go on to pitch their ideas to a panel of ‘dragons’ at the Harwell Space Cluster in June for the chance to win further prizes.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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