European Space Camp

European Space Camp (ESC) is an annual summer camp for youth between the ages of 17-20 with a special interest in science, technology, and space. Since 1996 over 600 participants from more than 30 countries and 6 continents have participated at ESC. The main goal of ESC is to promote education in science and technology and promote these fields as viable career paths. To achieve this, we focus on three things: lectures, practical work, and social activities. The students who are given the opportunity to participate are among the brightest in Europe and are handpicked through a holistic application process. We take into consideration various factors such as educational access and potential benefit of the applicants as well as to inspire more girls to take on a career in science and technology.

The camp is held at Andøya Space in northern Norway, and with the help of Andøya Space Education, ESC has been held 27 times. The participants get to assemble their own sounding rocket and take on all the challenges of a rocket campaign. They receive expert guidance from rocket scientists and professors through group work, in addition to listening to lectures from some of Europe’s top scientists. Social activities are also organised during camp, such as a mountain hike to the ALOMAR Observatory, a GPS quiz, engineering challenges, and an arctic swim. The camp is unique in Europe and the world, and aims to provide participants with life-long memories.

ESC is a non-profit organization organized by a voluntary Team consisting of previous participants. ESC is therefore completely dependent on the support of sponsors. As a token of appreciation, all individual supporters of ESC will receive our Annual Report, where they can see first-hand what their contribution has led to!