University of Glasgow students have joined five other teams on the UK Government’s Nanosat Design Competition.

Scottish students will join others from across the UK competing for a share of a £600,000 Challenge Fund.

The Nanosat Design Competition, which aims to encourage more young people to consider a career in the space sector, opened for entries in November 2021.

It offers young space scientists the chance to design a small satellite for launch from the UK to help build solutions to climate change.

More than 40 teams from across the UK and aged between 16 and 37 submitted detailed applications.

From these initial design ideas, five teams have now been selected to progress to the next phase of the Nanosat Design Competition, which includes a four-month mentoring programme with space industry experts, ahead of final judging in May.

The GU Orbit – OirthirSAT team from Glasgow have proposed a satellite to analyse shorelines and coastal vegetation, helping to boost understanding of the impact of climate change on coastal regions.

Commenting on the news, UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “It’s inspiring to see a new generation of scientists exploring how satellites can be used to help tackle climate change.

“I’m particularly pleased to see students from the University of Glasgow among the competition finalists, and I wish them the very best of luck.

“The UK Government is determined to secure the UK’s role as a global leader in the space sector and Scotland is a key part of this ambition, with the UK’s first vertical satellite launches set to take off from Shetland later this year.”

Commenting on the competition finalists, Ian Annett, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, added: “These five teams stood out in a competitive field and should be incredibly proud of making it through to the next round of the competition with their climate satellite designs.

“From this year, we’ll have the ability to launch small satellites from the UK which opens up huge opportunities to inspire the next generation, create hundreds of new jobs and support research in important areas such as climate science.”

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Space and satellite technology play a key role in understanding and tackling climate change, as half of the 56 types of data needed to accurately monitor and model changes can only be measured from space.

A paper released ahead of COP26 last year pointed to the role that Earth Observation (EO) satellite data can play to help nations meet their emissions goals.

The paper was co-authored by Professor Marian Scott from the University of Glasgow’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, and examined the opportunities and areas for improvement with EO.

In November 2021, the UK Space Agency provided around £7 million in funding to eleven organisations developing satellite projects.

Most of the funding will go to projects seeking to tackle climate change and spot potential disasters, as well as helping to secure telecoms systems and protect digital infrastructure against cyberattacks.

As part of the UK’s National Space Strategy, Britain is set to become the first country in Europe to host small satellite launches in 2022, building on the UK’s leading small satellite industry and creating high skilled jobs across the country, with Scotland playing a major role.

This will help UK scientists use space technology to help tackle global challenges, including climate change.

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