• 12 teams took part in the Northern Ireland Regional Finals of the 2025 UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC)
  • Slemish College are through to the UKROC 2025 National Finals
  • The 2025 UKROC competition will see almost 200 teams of schoolchildren from throughout the UK compete in seven regional competitions

 

Belfast (25 March 2025) – The Northern Ireland Regional Finals of the 2025 UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC) saw 12 teams of schoolchildren compete for a spot in the National Finals.

Slemish College have successfully advanced to the UKROC 2025 National Finals where they will join other regional champions to compete for the national title.

The competition sees teams of schoolchildren aged 11-18 design, build and launch a model rocket carrying a precious payload – two raw eggs.

Hosted by RLC Aerospace Limited at Langford Lodge, the winning team from Slemish College surpassed the competition’s altitude target of 790 feet, returning their rocket safely to the ground within the designated time window of 41-44 seconds.

Dr Steve Aiken OBE, Chair of the Northen Ireland Assembly All-Party Group on STEM and David Creighton, Engineering Director at Thales presented the awards to this year’s winners.

Organised by ADS, the UK’s aerospace, defence, security, and space trade association, this year’s competition is set to be the largest and most geographically diverse in the competition’s nearly 20-year history.

 

Leslie Orr, Director of ADS Northern Ireland, said:

“A huge congratulations to all the students who participated in today’s activities. UKROC plays a vital role in developing the next generation of leaders for our industry. By offering hands-on experience, this competition inspires a passion for STEM, showing that our sectors offer exciting and rewarding career paths. The competition at the National Finals will be fierce, and we wish all the schools the best of luck for the competition ahead.”

The 2025 UKROC competition will see almost 200 teams from throughout the UK compete in seven Regional Finals. The winners of the National final will head to Paris, where the UK will defend its two-year title as International Youth Rocketry Champions.”

 

The 2025 competition is kindly sponsored by Airbus and Lockheed Martin.

 

Notes to editors:

 

About the Youth Rocketry Challenge  

The UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC) is a national competition for young people aged 11 – 18 from any secondary schools, colleges, educational facilities or youth groups to design, build and launch a model rocket with a fragile payload. The competition is designed to encourage creativity, innovative thinking and appeal to young people interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and inspire them to consider fascinating careers in the aerospace, defence and space industries.

UKROC 2025 is the largest and most in-demand event in the competition’s history.

The national champions will win an all-expenses paid trip to Paris to represent the UK in a fly off against international teams from the USA, Japan, and France at the 2025 edition of Paris Airshow.

If you’d like to find out more about the UKROC, please visit the website.

Photos from the competition can be found here.

About ADS

ADS is the trade association for the UK’s aerospace, defence, security and space sectors, representing more than 1400 members throughout the UK.

More than 40% of ADS members are active in the space sector.