Teams will be challenged to

Design, build and test a rover to retrieve cached sample canisters on a martian surface

Pass through an engineering review process with space sector engineers

Win against other teams from across the UK

We look for people with hands on project experience when recruiting

Andrew Bacon, Thales Alenia Space UK

2019 - 2020

Register

Participants will

Gain experience working within a team on a technical project

Practice skills learned in their studies

Meet experts and recruiters from across the space sector

This competition provides the right skills and experiences they [students] need to get jobs in the industry

Dr Chris Mutlow, Director of RAL Space

About »

The Olympus Rover Trials challenge student teams to design, construct and operate a rover for an analogue sample return mission to Mars. Students create a rover concept, trade off performance parameters and pass through a rigorous review process with panels of engineers from the space sector. The competition aims to:

  • Challenge students to perform a complex, systems engineering task of the development of a vehicle to a set of real space mission requirements;
  • Enable students to apply taught technical skills and learn new ones relevant to a job in the space industry in an applicable project environment;
  • Provide students with an opportunity to develop and practice other important and transferable skills, such as teamwork, leadership and project management;
  • Foster interest in the activities of the space sector, especially in space engineering and robotics.

Key Dates »

Dates for 2020 will be provided in November 2019.

Competition Launch9 October 2019
Entry Deadline31 October 2019
Preliminary Design Review Deadline20 December 2019
Preliminary Design Review Feedback19 January 2020
Critical Design Review Deadline1 March 2020
Critical Design Review reviewer meetingby 31 March 2020
Test Readiness ReviewJune 2020
Competition EventJuly 2020

Rules and Resources »

Rules and requirements document, CAD files, drawings, template documents.

Contact Us »

Have a question about the competition? Want to enter? Want to sponsor?