Rockets Soar at White Cliffs in Australian Universities Rocket Competition

Rockets soared kilometres into the air at a remote sheep station in outback New South Wales as students from across Australia, New Zealand, and India competed in a prestigious rocket competition. The event, held at White Cliffs, saw about 20 teams of students launch their designs in a test of engineering and technical skills.

Competition and Collaboration

The teams, working in partnership with sponsors and companies from the aerospace, engineering, defence, and university sectors, designed and built their rockets from scratch. AURC event director Jennifer He noted that the students' dedication to their projects was impressive.

"They're performing all the verification and analysis on them … some are even making their parts in-house at their universities," she said.

"They're developing … their technical skills, but also their organisational [skills], the interpersonal and the way that they connect with each other."

University of Queensland student Thomas Molesworth highlighted the value of the competition in applying theoretical skills to real-world challenges.

"As much as we can model and simulate, there's really no telling how it will perform on the pad," he said.

"This is a really good way to apply some of those skills that I've learnt in class to real engineering challenges before moving in the workforce full time. Also I just love the rockets. It's really cool to see."

Student Experiences

Matthew Sutcliffe, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering student from the University of Technology Sydney, was competing for the second time at White Cliffs. He expressed his passion for working with rockets and space.

"Ever since I was a kid I'd dreamed of working with rockets and space. It's definitely my passion," he said.

"All the nerves that were building up to it and just the relief after a perfect flight — it … just made my whole day," he said.

Safety and Location

Endeavour Aerospace operations director Liam Grieve explained why White Cliffs is an ideal location for the competition, citing clear airspace and isolation as key factors.

"It is rocket science, at the end of the day, and if anything was to go wrong the area can be contained," Mr Grieve said.

"There are 1,000 things that need to go right and if any one of them go wrong then we have a site that needs to be contained and only those here at the site can be exposed."

Growth and Future Plans

Australian Youth Aerospace Association (AYAA) president Myrthe Snoeks reflected on the event's growth since 2019 and expressed hope for increased international participation in the future.

"Seeing everybody work on these projects, seeing how proud they are when they launch successfully, but also seeing the complexity and growth every year … it's a privilege to witness," she said.

More than a dozen rockets were successfully launched during the competition, with teams aiming to reach specific altitude goals.