17-year-old Fryderyk Boniecki on his team’s mission to build a fully functional mini satellite

Michał Beme building a miniature satellite.
January 19, 2025
How we plan to reach for the stars: Our journey with CanSat
Our AstroSat team, consisting of four students from Warsaw, including myself, is participating in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) prestigious CanSat 2024–25 competition. Together, we aim to transform our classroom knowledge into a tangible mission by designing, building and launching a fully functional miniature satellite.
I and my teammates – Michał Beme (14), Ignacy Charaszkiewicz (17) and Stanisław Kulka (17) – from the Classical School of Warsaw, under the supervision of aerospace engineer Dr Artur Jarzabek, are taking this exciting challenge.
A CanSat is a miniature satellite designed to simulate the functionality of a real satellite within the size constraints of a soft drink can. Students are tasked with designing, constructing and launching their CanSat, which is then deployed to an altitude of about 2,500 metres by rocket, balloon or platform. Once launched, the CanSat performs scientific experiments before achieving a safe landing.
“Our CanSat will perform two missions. The primary mission will be measuring atmospheric pressure and temperature during descent to analyse gradients in the Earth’s troposphere,” Ignacy Charaszkiewicz told Harbingers’ Magazine.
The secondary mission is even more ambitious, simulating the assessment of planetary habitability. This involves measuring UV radiation, humidity, gravitational force and atmospheric composition.
“Using readily available sensors and a custom Python programme, the AstroSat team aims to collect and analyse real-time data to evaluate whether conditions support human survival, plant growth and energy production,” explained our mentor, Dr Artur Jarzabek.