There are several countries which regularly organise CanSat competitions in Europe:

France

A national competition for university students was established in August 2008 by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the educational institution Planète Sciences. The launches are made from a captive balloon. The competition takes place each August during the C'Space student space event in Biscarosse.

For more information, please visit the CNES website or the Planète Sciences website.

Italy

The first Italian CanSat competition took place in Modena with the participation of four local high schools. A new CanSat kit was developed especially for the occasion and the CanSats were launched on rockets. It is expected that the competition will take place again in 2012 with a greater number of teams.

For more information, please visit their website

The Netherlands

A national competition for high school students has been organised by the company Innovative Solutions in Space (ISIS) and the Technical University of Delft every year since 2007. Up to 50 Dutch high schools participate each year and the best CanSats are launched on rockets from t’Harde military camp.

For more information, please visit their website.

Norway

With the support of the Norwegian Space Centre, the Norwegian Centre for Space-related Education (NAROM) initiated in May 2009 an annual national competition for high school students. The CanSats are launched by rockets at Andøya Rocket Range in Norway (ARR) in April each year.

For more information, please visit their website.

Scotland

The first Scottish Cansat Competition has been organised using the STEM Ambassador network which is active within the Scottish Schools system, supported by volunteers and interested companies and Scottish Universities.  There are 10 schools competing and we will "fly" the cansat satellites in March 2012 from a microlight aircraft at Strathaven Airfield just south of Glasgow.  The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, a very prestigious Victorian observatory will host the final assessment and award ceremony in March 2012.

For more information please visit their website.

Spain

An international competition was organised by the student association LEEM, with the support of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) in April 2008. The participants were university students and the launch platforms used were rockets and a captive balloon. A second international competition is planned for 2012.

For more information, please visit their website.

Other countries

In addition, CanSat projects have been developed by individual schools in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

If you are thinking of building a CanSat or holding a competition, feel free to contact us for some help in getting started!  cansat @ esa.int