About this competition
CanSat asks teams to design a payload the size of a soda can that does real work: it launches aboard a rocket, deploys at altitude, descends under a controlled system, and telemeters sensor data back to a ground station the team also builds. The mission changes every year, and the constraints are unforgiving.
The appeal is that CanSat compresses an entire spacecraft program into one object a student can hold. Teams handle structures, power, sensors, radio telemetry, recovery, and ground software — the same subsystem breakdown a real satellite program uses, at a scale a high-school team can actually finish.
Run by the American Astronautical Society with industry sponsors, CanSat is open to both high-school and university teams, which means high schoolers are benchmarked against undergraduates. That is hard, and it is also exactly why placing well carries weight with aerospace engineering admissions.
Season & deadlines
Registration and preliminary design review documents are due in the fall; the flight competition is in June.
Season window: September through June.
Cost
$1,000–$4,000 — Entry fee plus electronics, airframe materials, and travel to the launch site. Sensors and telemetry hardware are the largest line item.
Prizes & outcomes
Overall competition placings judged on design reviews, flight performance, and post-flight review
Designing a CanSat payload?
Aerospace & Rocketry Engineering is forming the next pilot cohort. Join the interest list — no commitment, no payment, we'll reach out personally.