Two teams from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the United States,
and teams from Indonesia and Thailand rounded out the top five.
SPRINGFIELD, VA (June 16, 2026) – The American Astronautical Society recently held its 21st annual Student CanSat Competition in central Virginia, with teams from around the world competing for the top place in a highly competitive field. From a list of over 100 teams entered, 42 were invited to launch weekend June 4-7 and five came out on top. This year’s top five finishers were:
First Place: Daedalus, Assumption College, Thailand
Second Place: Vortex, University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States
Third Place: Bamantara EEPISAT, Indonesia
Fourth Place: MetalHawk, University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States
Fifth Place: SEDS ITBA, Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Student CanSat Competition provides university students with a unique, real-world aerospace engineering experience. This annual international competition challenges teams to design, build, test, and launch a simulated satellite payload that must meet specific mission requirements. Through the complete engineering lifecycle—from concept development and systems integration to flight operations—students gain valuable technical expertise while strengthening their teamwork, leadership, and project management skills. Teams who enter review their preliminary designs with groups of judges and are scored. The 42 highest scoring teams go through critical design review and if successful, they are invited to launch weekend go through pre-flight launch readiness tests, flight, and post-flight reviews with panels of judges.
“CanSat is such an inspiring and encouraging event” said Jim Way, AAS Executive Director. “Seeing almost 400 students working so hard on their payload, getting to launch it, and interact with each other — the whole weekend is energizing, and frankly humbling – they do such amazing work. The future looks great for the space industry!”
Entries for the next competition start in August, 2026 concluding with launch weekend June 10-13, 2027, in central Virginia. More information is available at astronautical.org/cansat.
About AAS
The American Astronautical Society is the premier network of current and future space professionals dedicated to advancing all space activities. Founded in 1954, the AAS has long been recognized for the excellence of its national meetings, technical meetings, symposia and publications and for their impact on shaping the U.S. space program. Members have opportunities to meet with leaders in their field and in related disciplines, exchange information and ideas, discuss career aspirations and expand their knowledge and expertise.