Emil Kielar, a student of the 5th High School in Bielsko-Biała and also a member of the Inter-disciplinary Student Research Group “Engineer of XXI Century”, from 30 July to 6 August 2023 took part in the European Space Camp held on the Norwegian island of Andøya (300 km beyond the Arctic Circle) in the Andøya Space Center. Emil represented Poland as one of two scholarship holders from Poland among 21 participants from all over the world.

During the European Space Camp, enthusiasts from different parts of the world work in groups to build a stratospheric rocket from scratch for research and development purposes, which is then launched with all aspects of a real rocket campaign. During the week, lectures are also given by leading European scientists and engineers on topics such as space engineering or concurrent design. Lectures range from space physics and rockets to the phenomenon of the aurora borealis.

European Space Camp is an independent non-profit organisation that organises week-long summer camps for young people from all over the world. It has been organised for more than 25 years with the support of numerous sponsors. Of course, building a rocket is not the only attraction of the camp. It is accompanied by hiking in the beautiful Ramnan and Røyken mountains, swimming in the icy waters of the Norwegian Sea at midnight with the sun not setting. The most important thing, however, is that young people who are separated by geographical distance, but who share common passions, can meet each other and fulfil their dreams.