European Rocketry Challenge

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Members of the EPFL Rocket Team preparing their rocket for launch during the 2021 EuRoC edition.

The European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC) is a rocketry competition that has been taking place since 2020 and is aimed at university student teams from acrosse Europe. The competition is organised by the Portuguese Space Agency and takes place annually in Portugal. The event aims to foster education and innovation in aerospace engineering, and other fields, by allowing students to demonstrate their self build rockets.[1][2]

The EuRoC was launched in 2020, as a way to support students preparing for the Spaceport America Cup whose plans were disrupted by border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the European Rocketry Challenge, the Portuguese Space Agency (Agência Espacial Portuguesa) aims to promote space technology and cooperation between European universities and research institutions in Europe.

The Competition

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As a competition, the EuRoC involves various challenges in which teams have to design, build and launch rockets. The tasks may vary from year to year, but they are designed to require technical development from the students. Participants not only have to develop a working rocket, but also fulfill certain objectives, such as reaching a certain altitude (3 km or 9 km) and carrying a payload to perform scientific experiments during the flight.

Rockets are built from a variety of materials including wood, aluminium, PA-12 and glass fibre composite.[3]

Categories and Competitions

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Participants compete in various categories, depending on the target altitude of their rockets and the complexity of their designs. The launches are divided into two altitude categories, each further subdivided based on the type of propellant used (liquid, solid, or hybrid):

  • 3,000 metres altitude
  • 9,000 metres altitude

Teams are evaluated based on criteria such as rocket performance, accuracy in reaching the intended altitude, innovation in design, and operational safety.

Competition History

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EuRoC 2020

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The EuRoC was held for the first time in 21 to 24 October 2020 in Ponte de Sor (Portugal), during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural edition featured six teams and approximately 120 students.[4] Since then, the competition has grown steadily, with around 600 students and over 20 teams participating annually.

The participating teams in the first edition with their respective projects were Space Team Aachen (DE) with CARL, Project EULER (CH), Copenhagen Suborbitals with DanSTAR (DK), Air ESIEA (FR) and TU Wien Space Team (AT) with Hound and STR-10.[5][6]

EuRoC 2021

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19 teams with 400 students from 12 European countries took part in the competition.[7]

  • 2Space
  • Aerospace Team Graz (Technical Award[8])
  • AGH Space Systems
  • Akademische Raumfahrtinitiative Schweiz (Hibrid 9Km Flight Award)
  • Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team (A.S.A.T.)
  • Bath University Rocket Team
  • CranSEDS
  • DanSTAR (Liquid 9Km Flight Award)
  • Delft Aerospace Rocket Engineering
  • endeavour
  • EPFL Rocket Team (EuRoC Award | Hibrid 3Km Flight Award)
  • Imperial College London Rocketry (ICLR)
  • PoliWRocket (Design Award)
  • Propulse NTNU (Solid 9Km Flight Award)
  • RED - Rocket Experiment Division
  • SimLE SimBa
  • Skyward Experimental Rocketry (Solid-3Km Flight Award | Team Award)
  • Space Team Aachen

There were 15 launches.

EuRoC 2022

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The 2022 edition of EuRoC saw the participation of 25 university teams, comprising a total of 600 students from across Europe. The paddock and preparation area were located at Ponte de Sor Aerodrome, while rocket launches were conducted at the Santa Margarida Military Camp.[9]

  • Aerospace Team Graz - ASTG (New Space Award and Team Award)
  • Akademische Raumfahrtinitiative Schweiz - ARIS
  • Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team - ASAT
  • Bath Rocket Team - BRT
  • BME Aerospace - BMEAERO
  • BME Suborbitals - BMESUB
  • CranSEDS
  • Endeavour (Playload Award)
  • EPFL Rocket Team - ERT (Solid Engine 9 000 meters Award)
  • Faraday Rocketry UPV
  • Fénix Rocket Team - Fénix
  • Hybrid Engine Development - HyEnD
  • Imperial College London Rocketry - ICLR
  • LeoFly - LF
  • PoliWRocket
  • Rocket Experiment Division - RED (Solid Engine 3 000 meters Award)
  • Skyward Experimental Rocketry - Skyward ER (EuRoC Award)
  • Student Team for Aerospace and Rocketry - STAR
  • TU Wien Space Team - TUST (Liquid Engine 3 000 meters Award)

Out of the teams selected, 16 achieved successful launches.

EuRoC 2023

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The competition took place from 10 to 16 October 2023 with 25 teams in Constância, and 13 successful launches.[10][11]


  • Aerospace Team Graz (EuRoc Award & H3 Flight Award)
  • TU Wien Space Team
  • CTU Space Research
  • Danish Student Association for Rocketry
  • Air ESIEA
  • Association for Space Technologies & Research Applications
  • WARR Rocketry
  • Aristotle Space & Aeronautics Team
  • PoliTo Rocket Team
  • Skyward Experimental Rocketry
  • Propulse NTNU
  • PUT Rocketlab
  • North Space
  • Rocket Experiment Division (Payload Award)
  • Faraday Rocketry UPV (S3 Flight Award)
  • Student Team for Aerospace and Rocketry
  • Association of Engineering Students in Rocketry
  • Akademische Raumfahrt Initiative Schweiz
  • EPFL Rocket Team
  • HyPower Bristol
  • Imperial College London Rocketry


EuRoC 2024

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The event took place at Ponte de Sor Aerodrome and Santa Margarida Military Camp in Constância between 9 and 15 October. Awards were issued for technical report, vehicle design, team effort, flight performance (multiple categories), payload and overall ranking.[12][13]

References

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  1. ^ "EUROC – EUROPEAN ROCKETRY CHALLENGE". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  2. ^ "EuRoC: Ponte de Sor's sky limits challenged". Portuguese Space Agency. 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  3. ^ Grau Rifà, Jordi (April 2022). "Design and optimization of a rocket structure following the requirements for the European Rocketry Challenge (EUROC) to be fabricated using additive manufacturing". 4th Symposium on Space Educational Activities. doi:10.5821/conference-9788419184405.014. hdl:2117/368633.
  4. ^ 🗣 Ricardo Conde | 🚀 EuRoc - European Rocketry Challenge nas palavras de Ricardo Conde, Presidente da PT Space | By Município Ponte de SorFacebook. Retrieved 2024-08-30 – via www.facebook.com.
  5. ^ Europe's FIRST Rocketry Challenge! EURoC 2020, Portugal, 23 October 2020, retrieved 2024-03-02
  6. ^ "TEAMS 2020 – EUROC". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. ^ EuRoC 2021, 10 May 2022, retrieved 2024-03-02
  8. ^ https://euroc.pt/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/European-Rocketry-Challenge_Winners.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ EuRoC 2022 | Best of, 21 October 2022, retrieved 2024-03-02
  10. ^ "Students from Graz took the overall title with a self-developed hybrid rocket".
  11. ^ "COLLABORATION WITH FARADAY ROCKETRY UPV (Flight Award in EuRoC 2023)".
  12. ^ "Reaching for the stars: highlights from the ESA-supported 5th European Rocketry Challenge".
  13. ^ "Italian team Skyward wins the 5th edition of EuRoC". Portuguese Space Agency. 2024-10-30. Retrieved 2025-01-01.