Indonesia’s space agency holds rocketry contest for university students

Image courtesy of LAPAN.
Indonesia’s National Aeronautics and Aviation Agency (LAPAN), organised a Rocket Assembly and Rocket Indonesia Contest (Komunrindo), and a Weather Balloon Assembly Contest 2017 (Kombat) for public and private university students all over Indonesia at LAPAN’s Garut facility on Thursday.

Stasiun Peluncuran Roket or (“Rocket Launching Station”) is a rocket launch site managed by LAPAN at Pameungpeuk Beach in the Garut Regency on West Java and has been used since 1965 to perform engine tests and launch sounding rockets.

Head of LAPAN, Professor Dr. Thomas Djamaluddin — through Head of Public Relations LAPAN, Ir. Jasyanto, MM — explained that Komurindo is a competition for rocket assembly and Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) rocket design at the university level and has been held annually since 2009.

During the event, students were challenged to build a stable and accurate monitoring and measurement system in the field of rocketry. Another aim of the competition was to foster science and technology literacy among the younger generation.

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The 10th Komurindo Competition and the 5th Kombat Competition was held at the Center for Testing and Atmospheric Observation, Garut.

This year, LAPAN opened a new category, which involves building a rocket guidance system for EDF rockets, and featured other categories such as weather balloon technology for maritime observation.

This activity aims to improve students’ ability in designing, testing and assembling of space technology, and simultaneously improve remote sensing technology and robotics automation systems.

According to Ir. Jasyanto this year, there were a total of 99 proposals from candidates. After going through various stages of selection, 25 guidance systems teams, 18 rocket assembly teams, and 16 “Kombat” teams were shortlisted.

The competition was held by LAPAN in cooperation with the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education (Kemenristekdikti) and the Government of Garut regency. The event is a series in the 22nd National Technology Awarenewss Day’s, which coincides with the National Space Day, and the 54th birthday of LAPAN.

The winners were: (1) Rocket Assembly: State Polytechnic of Jember, (2) Guidance Systems: Universitas Komputer Indonesia, and (3) Weather Balloon Assembly: Electronics Polytechnic of Surabaya.

Meanwhile, Vice Regent of Garut, Dr. Helmi Budiman expressed pride and appreciation in the Garut Regency for serving as the location for the implementation of important events nationwide. He hoped Garut, through this event, will be able to improve Garut’s image at the national and international level in the field of Science and Technology.

 

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