PROJECTS & Archive

This competition challenges students to design and build a payload system for a Lunar 3U Cubesat mission. In the Research & Design phase, our team will design a 3U cubesat payload system. Then, the 5 best teams will go to the Build & Test phase where they will physically build and test it.

Our team will design, construct and operate a rover for a habitat construction mission to Mars. This competition challenges students to perform a complex systems engineering tasks such as creating a rover concept, trade off performance parameters and passing through a rigorous review process with panels of engineers from the space sector.

Our team will design and build a rocket in order to reach 1000 m of altitude! For that, the rules are clear, use 2-grain 29mm Cesaroni reloads of G impulse as motor and no metallic structure.

The aim is to launch a rocket up to a target altitude of 10,000 ft by October 2021.For that, we have created a large team made of talented engineers with different nationalities and backgrounds which will focus on Systems engineering, Mission, Propulsion, Mechanical & electronics and Avionics.

This year, our society will be launched to the next level: CranSEDS will design and build Cranfield University’s first hybrid engine & test stand by 2022.

This year saw CranSEDS' first conference, run entirely by students and featuring speakers from academia and industry.

 This year, CranSEDS is exploring new frontiers by making a debut entry into the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), run each year in New Mexico by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA). CranSEDS will be entering a rocket to the 10,000ft apogee category. A challenge like this offers hands-on experience, applying members’ previously theory-only knowledge to the real world. What’s more, it will present the opportunity to broaden the team’s experience and skills beyond the scope of their traditional physics and aerospace backgrounds. 

 As the first Cranfield team to enter Olympus Rover Trials competition, thirteen students will collaborate to design, build and operate a rover that will collect pre-prepared samples from an analogue Martian surface. The competition mission consists of three phases: Traversing the sampling area, retrieving cached samples, and returning to the lander. Students will be able to apply acquired knowledge and exhibit creativity from the conceptual design of the rover to its building and testing. Besides, the members will also practise teamwork and project management, as well as interact with experts from the space sector.

 As the second Cranfield team to enter Olympus Rover Trials competition, the assortment of thirteen students will collaborate to take on an ambitious task over the coming year. The Mars Rover 2 team must design, construct and operate a ‘Sample Fetch Rover’ that must traverse a Martian-like terrain, tackling sand, boulders and slopes to retrieve sample packages within an allotted time limit. From the detailed design to the meticulous construction, the members will be challenged throughout the next 9 months, providing a rich “Opportunity” to learn a multitude of transferable skills, as well as exercising their “Curiosity” into the world of robotics. 

A UKSEDS classic!  Our Rocket Team will design, build and launch the absolute best rocket and reach the greatest apogee possible.

 The goal of this UKSEDS competition is to design, build and operate a lunar rover that will navigate to a crater, collect a sample, and travel back to its lander. The Exploratory Rover for Navigation and Extraction of Sample reTrieval (ERNEST) was developed and completed a mission of a remote controlled sample retrieval at RAL Space's Mars Yard. 

This UKSEDS SSPI competition involves designing a small communications satellite capable of delivering 50 Mbps of data connectivity from LEO to small antennas on the ground without exceeding a weight limit of 150 kilograms. The final design (named Hermes for its message delivering capabilities) provides global data coverage using a constellation of small satellites. 

A UKSEDS classic!  Our Rocket Team will design, build and launch the absolute best rocket and reach the greatest apogee possible.

  Project Dragonfly was a student competition run by the Institute for Interstellar Studies, with the goal of carrying out a feasibility study of an interstellar mission conducted by small spacecraft propelled by laser sails. The CranSEDS team finished the competition in second place. 

 CranSEDS members built a rocket to enter into the second UKSEDS National Rocketry Championship, with the aim of flying as high as possible using a specified mid-power hobby rocket motor.