The achievements of the RED students, a branch of the AeroTéc - Aerospace Engineering Students' Group of Técnico, throughout 2024 were celebrated on December 19th at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento. The projects and missions were highlighted in the RED RECAP 2024.

During the ceremony, ten rockets developed by the students were displayed, including Blimunda, Baltasar, and Camões. The most recent missions were also presented, with models that will be used for testing at the spaceport installed on Santa Maria Island, Azores, in September this year.

The students will also participate in the European Rocketry Challenge (EuRoC) in 2025, in the hybrid category, unlike previous years when the students competed in the solid propulsion category. This will be the first Portuguese student team with a rocket of this type, at an event “where only the best European teams meet,” according to RED coordinator Gonçalo Machado.

Pedro Amaral, Vice-President for Business Interface, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, emphasized that the students “have an absolutely fantastic project with real challenges already, and we will continue to support and promote [this initiative].”

The ceremony was also attended by the President of the Portuguese Space Agency, Ricardo Conde, who stated it was “a great pride to be surrounded by so many people with an absolutely impressive mindset for innovation.”

If anyone can do these things in Portugal and bring innovation, it has to be through universities. When students mobilize, a current is formed, and the whole sector gets mobilized too.

Ricardo Conde, President of the Portuguese Space Agency

Source: Técnico

Photography: Técnico