HUNTSVILLE – CanSat teams at the University of Alabama in Huntsville placed first, second and sixth nationally in the 2025 International CanSat competition in Monterey and Staunton, Va.
UAH teams BlueStreak, Cosmos and Rotorstorm also placed sixth, eighth and14th, respectively, in the international rankings for the annual event that showcases student-built CanSats, a type of miniature satellite designed to simulate an actual space mission.
The projects challenge students to fit all major satellite subsystems, such as power, sensors and communication, into a relatively small volume.
Originally, CanSats were literally the size of a soda can, but current payloads are roughly two-and-a-half times larger than the first CanSats launched in 2008. Once loaded, each CanSat is then launched by a rocket or deployed from a balloon to carry out a mission, which typically includes collecting data on temperature and pressure, before landing safely…