During the Symposium on Space Educational Activities, the student representatives from Luleå University of Technology, LTU, presented student-led space projects: APTAS, MARA, and INSITE, and promoted international education initiatives within the space sector, such as UNIVERSEH.
APTAS is LTU’s first student-led CubeSat project and aims to support the alignment of the antenna array operated by EISCAT, a research organisation active in Sweden, Norway and Finland. MARA is developed within the REXUS programme, Rocket Experiments for University Students, and focuses on drilling into asteroid simulants in microgravity to contribute to future resource utilisation in space. INSITE, a newly launched project, aims to measure infrasound and determine the location of its source through simulations, with potential applications in environmental research and early warning systems.
The symposium brought together students, researchers and industry representatives from across Europe and beyond, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration.
“The space industry is an emerging field with a lot of motivated and brave people from different backgrounds,” Katrina Yzabel Baladjay says.
During the event, she also engaged with representatives from organisations such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), as well as students from other universities working on satellites, rockets and space experiments. The experience contributed to new insights for ongoing project work, including improvements in testing CubeSat sun sensors and the importance of structured project organisation. Reflecting on her participation, she emphasises the value of international collaboration.
“I also saw how important networking is for building a future career in the space sector. It was an honour to be part of a venue filled with experts, enthusiasts and like-minded students who will be the next generation shaping the space industry,” Katrina Yzabel Baladjay concludes.
