BEXUS balloon

The Swedish National Space Board and ESA invite students to propose experiments to be flown on REXUS sounding rockets and BEXUS stratospheric balloons.

The selected teams will have the opportunity to design and build an experiment suitable for a flight on the BEXUS 16 and 17 balloons or the REXUS 15 and 16 sounding rockets.

The BEXUS (Balloon-borne Experiments for University Students) 16 and 17 balloons will be launched in autumn 2013 and the REXUS (Rocket-borne Experiments for University Students) 13 and 14 sounding rockets will be launched in spring 2014. All flights will take place from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.

Applications

REXUS sounding rocket

The REXUS/BEXUS programme calls for each team of students to design a scientific experiment or technology demonstration to be flown on a REXUS sounding rocket or a BEXUS stratospheric balloon.

Teams from ESA Member States and Cooperating States* are encouraged to register on the ESA Education Office's project portal and upload their proposals by 22 October 2012.
N.B. German students should apply via the parallel DLR call for proposals.

Funding is available for students’ travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses related to this programme. In order to be eligible for sponsorship, the following criteria must be fulfilled:

• Students must be aged between 18 and 28 at the time of application;
• Students must have ESA Member State or Cooperating State nationality;
• At the time of application, students must be enrolled as a full-time undergraduate, Masters or PhD student in a university in an ESA Member State or Cooperating State, studying or researching a subject related to the programme.

The best 12-15 team proposals will be shortlisted for consideration by a selection panel. These teams will receive an invitation for the selection workshop to be held at ESTEC on 12 and 13 December 2012.

The programme

The REXUS/BEXUS programme is realised under a bilateral Agency Agreement between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB). The Swedish share of the payload has been made available to students from other European countries through a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).

EuroLaunch, a cooperation between the Esrange Space Center of SSC and the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) of DLR, is responsible for the campaign execution and operations of the launch vehicles. Experts from ESA, SSC and DLR provide technical support to the student teams throughout the project.

For more information on the programme and how to apply, please visit www.rexusbexus.net. Here you will also find a detailed programme overview.