A team of pupils from Rainey Endowed School in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, has won the Northern Ireland regional final of the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge; they were sponsored by Moyola Precision Engineering. This annual competition, designed to encourage more young people to consider careers in the aerospace industry, is organised by the aerospace trade association ADS.

Each of the secondary-school teams was required to design, construct and launch a rocket weighing no more than 650g and carrying two raw eggs; it had to reach an altitude of 825ft and return the eggs safely to the ground within 50sec.

David Beatty, Chairman of ADS Northern Ireland, said: “I congratulate all the schools that took part in the competition. Encouraging young people towards these subjects is vital for the future success of Northern Ireland. As our economy becomes more focused on advanced manufacturing, it is crucial that we have people with skills and qualifications in science, technology, engineering and maths.”

The Rainey School team will take part in the national finals of the UK Rocketry Challenge in June. The winners will then visit the Airbus base in Toulouse and represent the UK at the International Rocketry Challenge against US and French winning teams at the Farnborough International Airshow in July.