Croydon High is about to go even higher!

Round of applause: the Astrogazers take a bow last week for their first project, and announce their next exciting adventure

The girls’ independent school in Selsdon who last year ran a special astronomy club project that sent a pair of weather balloons into space has confirmed that it is now working to become the first school in this country to launch a satellite into low-earth orbit.

The new project is called “Mission Pegasus”.

Croydon High’s Astrogazers club ran the weather balloon project in conjunction with the University of Bath, and to celebrate the success of last year’s Mission Aspiration they staged an event attended by family and friends, staff, and professionals from universities and the space industry.

Notable guests included Prof Cathryn Mitchell, Dr Robert Watson and Clare Cambridge from the University of Bath, who shared their reflections on the success of Mission Aspiration, underscoring the significance of hands-on learning experiences in STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts and maths.

Arabi Karteepan, Croydon High’s head of physics and the director of Astrogazers, was a recent guest on Under The Flyover, Inside Croydon’s interviews podcast, where she explained the hard work involved even in getting the weather balloons launched, and revealed the sky-high ambition of Operation Pegasus.

“After launching two high-altitude meteorological balloons into space, the next goal for Astrogazers is to become the first UK school to launch a CubeSat satellite into low earth orbit,” Karteepan told her audience at the school last week.

Karteepan won the Royal Astronomical Society’s education award for the achievements of Mission Aspiration, which sent two weather balloons two miles up into space and successfully retrieved images of the Earth.

“I have witnessed first-hand the transformative power that hands-on learning experiences can play in boosting our girls’ confidence and fostering an early passion for not only space science, but all STEAM subjects,” Kartepaan said.

“I have had an influx of educators asking for guidance on running similar projects, and it has been very rewarding to share these unique learning experiences which empower girls to see themselves as capable and competent contributors to the field.”

Chrissie Hillyer, from Spirent Communications, one of the Astrogazers Club’s sponsors (and they are seeking others, too, if you’re reading this, Elon) said: “Astrogazers are truly an inspirational group to all women globally.

“Their passion, motivation and enthusiasm towards space science and pushing the boundaries of research through their inquisitive minds makes Spirent proud to be sponsors and partners of the group. With the balloon launch proving a huge success, we can’t wait to see what they can achieve with Mission Pegasus.

“The sky really isn’t the limit with these girls – and I doubt the ionosphere will be either!”

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