Mach-X
The Mach-X Rocketry and CanSat Competition is the premier event on the UK student rocketry calendar.
Aligning with our mission to teach practical experience through rocketry, QPL is committed to competing in the Mach-X event. We aim to demonstrate the innovation and quality which Northern Ireland can produce at the highest level in student rocketry in the UK.
Competition background
Hosted at Machrihanish Spaceport in Scotland, Mach-X is an annual event containing not only a launch competition but also technical workshops and networking opportunities for students.
The competition features 3 categories: Launch, CanSat and Combined . All rockets use either I or L class motors and target altitudes of 1500m or 3000m respectively.
Mach-24
July 2024 was the first time a team from Northern Ireland travelled to Machrihanish for the esteemed competition. QUB Scarecrow was a combined rocket and CanSat developed by a team of 12 engineering and physics students working intensely starting in October 2023.
Scarecrow took to the skies for it’s maiden flight on the 12th of July reaching an impressive apogee of 1300m. The entire mission went extremely well with spectacular images being captured during flight and the rocket being recovered successfully only 100m from the launch stand.
