Aeronautics students win Student Aerospace Challenge

Four Aeronautics students have achieved first place with their suborbital vehicle design at the Student Aerospace Challenge.

Aeronautics undergraduate students, Paula Gutierrez, Joel Tomas Pimentel, Adrien Venot and Kirill Surkov won the European Space Agency (ESA) Grand Prix at the Student Aerospace Challenge.

The Challenge objective was to develop a reusable vehicle for local suborbital flights capable of returning to Earth, or for high speed and long flights.

"The achievement of winning is incredible. The project has given us access to many opportunities and experienced individuals in the sector. The impact of our win has awakened interest of companies in industry, and so we are currently in process of incorporating a start up to further explore concepts.” - Joel Tomas Pimentel 

The team, ICSpace, claimed the grand prize with their suborbital vehicle design that reduces fuel consumption needed for supersonic flights, similar to the ‘Concorde’.

Taking inspiration from the theoretical Busemann biplane, proposed in 1935, the team worked with key resistance elimination techniques to extrapolate clever aerodynamic design.

With the incorporation of a mobile wing profile, for both conventional and supersonic flight configurations, the proposed space vehicle allows for less fuel to be used and smoother re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

The innovation also utilises a variable spacing Busemann configuration, a proof of concept of which was developed by Thomas Cross, for his MEng project under the supervision of Dr Errikos Levis. By varying the spacing in a Busemann-configured vehicle you can either eliminate drag across a wider speed range or even generate a very large drag at a given speed, slowing the vehicle down during re-entry.

After 6 rounds of submissions, the team were invited to present their work at the ’Suborbital Day’ in Paris. Participants were welcome by Matthias Mauer, Astronaut and Materials Scientist.

Judges awarded the team with the ultimate ‘ESA Grand Prix’. This prize offers the best student team the unique opportunity to present its project to space professionals at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) - an event that brings together all global space actors.

“Being part of the ISEB program was incredible. It helped me grow my professional network, learn and have an amazing time meeting international students from member space agencies. We had the opportunity to attend unique events including networking dinners and meeting the Heads of Agencies. As an undergraduate, taking part in the Challenge and Congress has reinforced my desire to pursue a career in the space industry.” - Paula Gutierrez

The presentation offers students the chance to take part in the International Space Education Board (ISEB) Student Program. The Program is tailored to foster students' personal and professional development, with opportunities to attend specialised events, presentations, panel sessions, and meetings with senior representatives.

The Student Aerospace Challenge, is hosted annually by partners from the aerospace sector - ESA, Astronaute Club Européen (ACE), Dassault Aviation, Ariane Group and Musee de l'air et de l'espace.

The competition focuses on various aspects of suborbital vehicles, giving teams the opportunity to explore new solutions aligned to their academic backgrounds and interests.