Artemis II inspires student rocket builders

A group of students hoping to become the first in Europe to launch a rocket into space said they were inspired by Nasa's Artemis II flight around the moon.

Members of the Cambridge University Space Flight Society said the "incredible" expedition was the first of its kind they had seen in their lifetimes, with the last manned moon mission being 1972.

Society co-president Elisabeth Rakozy said Artemis II, which splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, "heralded a new era" in space exploration.

Rakozy said the 100-strong society hoped to pass the Kármán line, 100km (62 miles) above earth – which is known as the "boundary of space" – within the next two years.

The Artemis II mission has set the record for the furthest humans have travelled into space - 252,756 miles (406,771km).

The university society was established in 2006, mainly by engineering students, with the 100km goal already in mind.

It had since built several rockets and engines, including Griffin I which students said would be capable of reaching an altitude of 150km (93 miles) if launched successfully.

It had previously launched rockets and high altitude balloons from locations in Cambridge and the United States, where it was supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The mission was slowed by the pandemic, but had since picked up renewed momentum, the society said.

"We're going to be launching more rockets soon," co-president Ben Sutcliffe, 22, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

The society had made "progress" in the past few months with logistics, insurance and licensing and planned to launch a rocket in Scotland, Rakozy, also 22, added.

She said she would be watching from the sidelines when the society achieved its aims as she had accepted a job with US aerospace manufacturing company Relativity Space, which would begin after her graduation.

Watching each test flight was an "amazing", but nerve-wracking, feeling, Sutcliffe said.

"It's sort of like seeing your baby being launched off into the sky and praying that all of your engineering design was done properly," he said.

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