On 25 March 2025 Team Metronauts competed at the Northern regional event (Elvington Airfield, York) against 45 other teams and came third. Unfortunately, they did not make it into the National finals. Here is their untold story…
Setting the Scene
January 2025 Team Metronauts were looking for a competition to help their CVs and support their aspirations of starting future careers in engineering. They found the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge also known as UKROC! Unfortunately, time was tight, the deadline was at the end of January and the regional event was only three months away; they had no experience and no idea where to start.
The Mission
The team needed to build a rocket that sent two eggs to an altitude of 790 feet (241 metres), it then separates and comes down as two separate parts suspended via parachutes. It must land intact without damage to the eggs with a time between 41 – 44 seconds. The maximum weight of the rocket must not exceed 650g and anything outside of this will incur penalty points. 0 points is the best score.
Procurement and Problems
Following rough calculations carried out by the team and SpaceCAD (free analysis software by the organisers), recommendations came out to specify the best sized rocket motors for the job (these are disposable cartridges that can be replaced inside the rocket body).
Unfortunately, due to the late start there were no suitable rocket motors available from the recommended suppliers. The team contacted the rocket motor company to check if anymore would be back in stock, however there was a shortage of supply with only the more powerful motors being available. The team had no choice but to order these powerful motors knowing that it might make the rocket launch twice as high, they had to find a way around it. At this point just building the rocket would be an achievement.
Design and Build
The team used the free SpaceCAD software to design the basic rocket shape, maximum weight, nose cone shape, egg locations and more. This software provides guidance on the rocket thrust power, location and centre of gravity and fin shape. In theory if the rocket was built to this specification the rocket would be perfect.
Parts were ordered through the recommended supplier, where some parts were not available, the team had to be innovative by modelling it on Inventor (3D CAD) and 3D printing the rest of the parts.
Budgeting
It was unclear if the team had been granted funding from the school which resulted in major budget constraints. As part of their planning and decision making, they decided to keep a rough budget of £300. The team decided if the budget was not granted, they would split the cost between themselves. The £300 would only get them the basic parts and 3 rocket motors which meant they only had one for testing and the two for the competition. This meant they were limited in test flights.
Testing
Prior to the launch the team had no idea what would happen, they all knew it was going to be higher than the target height due to the powerful motor. As a desperate attempt the rocket was made to the maximum allowable weight.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off! Amazingly the rocket launched, it went high in the sky and the parachute deployed as planned. The test launch was a success, and the eggs survived. The altimeter recorded a height of 317 metres (76 metres over the target) and it landed on 40 seconds! Metronauts have a working rocket!
Development
Team Metronauts knew they needed to reduce the height; they decided to modify the nose cone by making a medium sized cone with a fat nose. Along with this, they added innovative “V” shapes on the wings which they nicknamed the “air brake”. The idea was that these features would create more drag and lower the height of the rocket. The team had to guess, they had no more test flights, and the competition was only a week away.
Competition Day
The team arrived at the Northern regional event at Elvington Airfield in York. On their arrival their rocket stood out, it was the strangest looking rocket anyone had seen with the big nose cone and the complicated fins. Team Metronauts was unsure if it was even going to fly because it looked so far away from their original rocket. All the other teams made rockets that looked the same and questioned if the Metronauts rocket was even meet rocket regulations. The event organisers inspected the rocket and confirmed it passed regulations and was suitable for flight, huge relief!
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off! The rocket flew perfectly, it looked stable and separated as planned, it was a bit windy which meant both parts landed in the trees. On retrieval both eggs survived, and the altitude was recorded at 222 metres which was only 18 metres off target. It seemed that the modifications had worked too well. This gave the team a score of 77 points! It was the best of the bunch!
Towards the end of the day, it looked like no other team could come close to this score, most of them went way too high, eggs cracked, some vanished into the sky never to be seen again and some just simply exploded.
On the second launch attempt, the team was faced with an impossible decision of changing the nose cone to a slimmer one to make it go higher or to stick with the big one? The team decided to go with the big one because they were so far ahead on the score board, they felt it was a done deal. On the second launch the wind was picking up and the launch queue was getting longer. The team had set up the rocket as before and was ready to launch.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off! The launch was even better than first time, but the wind blew the nose cone straight into the concrete runway where it broke. The eggs survived, but it was later found that the altitude was not recorded due to the flight computer being off. It was discovered that it switches its self-off after 1 hour. On return the team found out that two other teams had beaten them, one at 44 points and the other at 9 points (this was achieved by the reigning champions from last year – the Archers!).
The team was disappointed but still hopeful that they would reach Nationals. However, the team found out it was just not meant to be and that they hadn’t made it to Nationals.
Why?
It is easy to only focus on the winners; this case study is here to highlight the work of Team Metronauts and all the teams that competed and may have not made it to Nationals.
The team started late at no fault of their own and was stuck with the leftover parts, they tried to work with limited time and almost hit the target. They missed the moon but got the eggs home safely on all three flights.
What if they signed up two months earlier? What if the motor was in stock? What if they used a smaller nose cone on the final launch? This is just the way competitions work, the team secured 3rd place by good judgement, demonstrating innovation and creative thinking. These are all the characteristics that are needed to be a trusted engineer. The same attitudes, drama and problems have been witnessed from smaller 10K projects to million-pound projects. UKROC mirrors actual work experience that cannot be replicated. This team has gone through the ups and downs of more than just a school project.
Well done to Team Metronauts and everyone that competed in UKROC 2025.
Thank you to Team Metronauts; Adam Kelly, Adam Sidimoussa, Jessica Tseung, Kevin Huang, Liam Hart and Rakan Ahmed and their supervisor Adrian Tseung CEng MIMechE for contributing to this case study.
Want to share your experience? Email us ukroc@adsgroup.org.uk.
