Portugal’s EuRoC rocketry challenge flies higher with ESA

Through a bilateral agreement with the Portuguese Space Agency, ESA is now providing substantial financial support to the competition, in addition to the technical expertise it has contributed in previous editions.

Established by the Portuguese Space Agency in 2020 and now approaching its seventh edition, EuRoC gives university students hands-on experience in the design, development and operation of launcher systems.

The competition has grown from six teams and fewer than 100 participants in its inaugural edition to 64 applications from 26 countries in 2026. Of these, 25 teams were selected, with around 600 students expected to gather in Constância and at the Santa Margarida Military Camp, from 15 to 21 October. 

Here, they will launch their own rockets to altitudes as high as 9 km, competing in categories for solid, hybrid, and liquid propulsion systems.

In addition to awards for the best flight performance, teams also compete for the best rocket design, teamwork, payload, and technical documentation. The team that demonstrates the strongest performance across all areas is crowned the overall winner and takes home the prestigious EuRoC award.

“Europe needs talented graduates who are ready to contribute from the start. Through demanding, real-world projects, EuRoC helps students transform academic knowledge into the skills and experience needed to launch successful careers in the space sector,” says Marco Ferrazzani, ESA Director of Resources and Services, whose responsibilities include training programmes for European students and ESA’s own workforce.

EuRoC challenges students to think creatively and turn complex problems into practical solutions. “By proposing and implementing innovative rocket designs, the participants contribute to feed the European talent base. This, in its turn, supports Europe's long-term autonomy in access to space as well as the competitiveness and sustainability of the European launcher ecosystem,” adds Géraldine Naja, ESA Director of Space Transportation.

The partnership marks the first step under ESA’s New University Initiative. Approved at the ESA’s last Council at Ministerial Level, and currently undergoing refined design, the initiative aims to strengthen ties between academia and the space sector, enabling a continuous exchange of knowledge, skills and experience between Europe’s academic programmes and professional practice. One way ESA will do this is by recognising and joining forces with outstanding space challenges across Europe.

"By joining the competition, ESA recognises that Europe’s largest and most advanced university rocketry competition contributes directly to their objectives,” says Marta Gonçalves, Education and Science officer at the Portuguese Space Agency. “Since the Portuguese Space Agency created EuRoC, we have seen student rocketry societies and dedicated university models appear across Europe. ESA is joining a movement that can no longer be stopped and that is training the engineers Europe needs to secure its own access to space,” she concludes.