American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be the special guest at the opening of the 7th European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC) on 16 October at 11:00 in Constância, the regional outlet Mais Ribatejo reported on 7 October. Organised by the Portuguese Space Agency, the competition runs from 15 to 21 October and brings together about 600 students in 21 university teams from across Europe. Teams finish their rockets in Constância’s municipal sports hall, and launches begin on 17 October at the Santa Margarida military range. In June, three Portuguese teams, RED (Instituto Superior Técnico), North Space and newcomer MAST (University of Minho), were among those selected from a record 61 eligible applications. Our take: a star name for a student event is a smart way to put Portugal’s growing rocketry talent pool in the spotlight.
~600students
21university teams
15–21.10competition week