KAIST

Figure: The cansat is sent up into the air using a balloon and then separated at a certain height. The cansat slowly descends and sends terrestrial observation or atmospheric information back to earth.



KAIST will host the first ever Cansat Competition Korea, in which students from different age groups can participate in building and testing the performance of their custom satellites.

The Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at KAIST announced that it will take applications for the Cansat Competition Korea until May 25th. A cansat is a can-sized educational satellite that contains the basic elements of a real satellite. It is fired up to a few hundred meters in the air using balloons or small rockets and then separated like a real satellite, collecting data and sending the information back to earth. Cansat competitions are regularly held in the United States or Europe, where they have advanced space development programs, but this is the first time this competition will be held in Korea.

The competition caters to different age groups through a cansat experience science camp for elementary and middle school students and a cansat competition for high school and college students.

The science camp will be held from August 7th to 9th at KAIST and Sejong City and will include satellite education, visits to space development centers (KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute), hand-on experience with basic cansat kits, and other various programs.

The science camp will consist of a maximum of 20 teams comprised of students from fifth to ninth grade. Each team will have an advisory teacher and 3 to 4 students and can apply for the competition at no cost.

The cansat competition will test high school and college students on their personally designed and built can satellites along with the creativity of their mission and developmental outcome.

The preliminary review will choose a maximum of 15 teams, while the secondary review will select the 5 teams that will make the final competition based on their design presentation. On August 9th, these 5 teams will be evaluated on their technical ability, mission capacity and presentation skills. The winning team will be given the KAIST presidential award along with a trophy and prize money.

Doctor Park from KAIST SaTReC explained that countries with advanced space technology actively support cansat competitions to expand the base of the field. He emphasized Korea’s need for regular cansat competitions to actively promote potential space researchers.

More information on the competition can be found on the homepage (http://cansat.kaist.ac.kr) or at the KAIST SaTReC (042-350-8613~4)