THE North East’s important role in the fast-growing UK space industry is reflected by the enthusiasm of the region’s schools to be part of a unique event.
For the past four years global space giant, Lockheed Martin, has run its Space Camp in Newcastle, giving a selected group of Year 6 and Year 12 pupils the opportunity to meet those working in the space industry and academia, along with giving them a range of hands-on experiences.
And this year’s event – held at Northumbria University over half term – highlighted the interest in possible careers in space among young people, with dozens of schools applying to take part.
Around 60 young people were lucky enough to be selected for the camp, which next time will be held at NESST for the first time – the £50m North East Space Skills and Technology Centre which is currently being built at Northumbria University in partnership with Lockheed Martin and the UK Space Agency.
Young people from schools including Newcastle’s Chopwell Primary, St Mary’s, St Cuthbert’s and Dame Allen Juniors, Sunderland’s Southmoor Academy, Cramlington Learning Village and Morpeth’s Newminster Middle School were just some of the 16 establishments which took part.
Year 6 pupils heard at first hand from a variety of people who work in the space industry, along with being involved in activities such as making and launching rockets and learning about everything from satellites to the solar system.
For the first time Space Camp also teamed up with the Centre for Life, with the youngsters spending an entire day there during the week, where they tried their hand at robotics and watched a film about space and the planets in the planetarium.
The Year 12 pupils also took part in a range of challenges including a LEGO Mission to Mars, where they had to cost up, market and build a space vehicle.
For 11-year-old Charles Hill from Newminster school, it was a fantastic opportunity to find out more about space.
“Space is so exciting because it’s never ending,” said Charles, who wants a career as an astrophysicist.
“Everything we’ve done during Space Camp has been really useful and we’ve learned so much.”
His words were echoed by 16-year-olds Cosmo Hastie from St Mary’s School and Alex Rubin from Newbottle, who are both also interested in a career in space.
“I didn’t really realise how many different careers you could have in space,” said Alex.
“It’s been fantastic to speak to people who work in the industry – it’s definitely something I could see myself doing.”
Cosmo added:”as someone interested in computer science, I can now see how I could do this in the space industry.”
Among this year’s guest speakers was Ellen Tate, a Space Environment Engineer at 3S Northumbria, a space start-up in the North East which is building knowledge to support industry, government and academia on sustainable space solutions.
“We think Space Camp is a fantastic initiative, which 3S Northumbria was delighted to support,” she said.
“It was great to see the students’ asking questions and thinking about how they can get into the space industry. We had good engagement around space sustainability, and the students showed a lot of enthusiasm when thinking about new solutions to solve debris issues and improve satellite tracking – hopefully we will see their ideas come to life in the future.”
Ben Shaw, Head of Operations and Capture at Lockheed Martin UK Space, said that Space Camp was just one activity that showcases the company’s commitment to help the UK grow its space industry.
“Our aim is to strengthen the nation’s skills across the full spectrum of space activities, help the UK become a science and technology powerhouse, and bring economic benefits to communities around the country,” he said.
“The point of Space Camp is to show the North East’s next generation of employees that the space industry needs bright, creative people.
“If they love coding, engineering, science, design or problem-solving, then there’s a place for their talents.
“This was one of our best Space Camps to date with the young people who took part showing their knowledge and enthusiasm and realising the important role the North East is going to play in the future of the UK space industry.”