Teams from Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College, Thornton Grammar and Beckfoot School, Bingley, have been selected to take part in the prestigious UK Rocketry Challenge.

The nationwide competition, hosted by Bradford-based space education provider Space Connections, will see science students attempt to build a rocket that can lift an egg to a height of 850 feet in a flight lasting at least 45 seconds.

To add to the difficulty of the challenge, the egg must return to earth unbroken for each flight to count.

First developed in the US, the challenge is now being staged in the UK.

The winners of this year's inaugural competition will receive £10,000 and travel to the States to show-off their prototype.

A-level pupils at Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College were keen to take part in the event.

Year 12 pupil Seb Cosgrove, 16, said: "Our rocket will be around two metres high and will be made from cardboard and balsa wood.

"We will perform a computer simulation first.

"The rocket will be fitted with motors which we will put together. We plan to test the rocket in Queensbury before taking part in a preliminary event at Harewood House in Leeds."

The UK final will be held at Charterhouse School, Surrey, in April.

Andy Willis, from Space Connections, based in the Velocity business centre on Angel Way, said: "The competition gives a real boost to the teaching of science and technology in schools.

"Many young people are interested in space, and part of Space Connections' role is to encourage them to look at science, technology and innovation as possible careers.

"This means engaging them in these subjects at an early age, through exciting projects such as the Rocketry Challenge."

The competition is being backed by the Royal Aeronautical Society and the United Kingdom Rocketry Association.

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