UIU team ranks 2nd in Asia, 7th globally at cansat competition 2025

The 'UIU ASCEND team from United International University (UIU) has achieved a remarkable feat by securing 2nd place in Asia and 7th place globally at the prestigious CanSat Competition 2025, organised by the American Astronautical Society (AAS).

Held from June 5–8 in Virginia, USA, the international student competition featured 34 teams from 17 countries, including the USA, Argentina, Taiwan, Canada, Turkey, Korea, the UK, India, Italy, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany. Three teams from Bangladesh made it to the final round, with UIU emerging as the top-performing Bangladeshi team.

Sponsored by NASA, the US Naval Research Lab (NRL), Siemens and other major organisations, CanSat is an annual design-and-launch competition that challenges student teams to build a satellite capsule capable of being launched to an altitude between 670 and 725 metres. The capsule must successfully deploy a probe and execute a controlled descent and landing sequence.

The UIU ASCEND team impressed judges by demonstrating technical excellence throughout the competition, advancing from the preliminary phases with outstanding performance. This year's result marks a significant improvement over their 2024 achievement, where they placed 3rd in Asia and 11th globally.

"This is a proud moment for our university and our country. Having the names of Bangladesh and UIU honoured on a global platform reflects the dedication, skill and passion of our students," the university stated in a release.

Now in its second consecutive year of participation, UIU's rise in global rankings highlights the growing strength of Bangladesh's presence in international tech and engineering competitions.