The REXUS/BEXUS programme is targeted towards university students in the fields of natural sciences and engineering, who have a good idea for a rocket or balloon experiment. Participants will experience the full project lifecycle of their experiment, from design and development, to building and testing, to operation and data analysis.

Forming a team

It is recommended that students form teams of 4-8 people. You should try to include people from different disciplines and ensure that the team has a good range of skills addressing the many different tasks involved. For example:

• A scientist to define the parameters of the experiment and interpret the measurements
• A mechanical engineer to design and build the structure
• An electronics engineer to design and manufacture the circuit boards
• A software engineer to program the commands and data storage
• Someone with good communication skills to develop and execute a successful outreach programme

Additional support

Teams should think about what facilities and expert knowledge they might need during the course of the project. It is highly desirable to have the endorsement of a university department or research institute. You will probably need to use laboratories and specialised tools and you will almost certainly need advice when unforeseen problems arise.

You may also need to look for sponsors to donate components or funding for building and testing your experiment.

Ideas for experiments

Many experiments have been flown on sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons over the past 50 years. You should begin by researching what has already been done and try to think of an original idea or build on results which already exist.

Your experiment could be a scientific investigation, a technology demonstration or an environmental observation. Maybe you can link it to an existing research programme at your university.

Make sure that you have read the technical overviews of REXUS and BEXUS to understand what is possible within the constraints of the launch vehicle.