Last week saw the inaugural Welsh regional finals of a national school rocket competition.

The UK Youth Rocketry Challenge saw 66 young people gather at Snowdonia Space Centre in Llanbedr to fire hand-built rockets into the sky.

Thirteen teams came from across Wales to compete on 21 March, made up of children aged 11-18.

The task was to build a rocket that would successfully carry an egg, reach an altitude of 790 feet and return safely to the ground in 41-44 seconds.

Jeremy Howitt, Snowdonia Aerospace Centre Future Flight Lead, said: “Today has showcased some incredibly talented and innovative young people from across Wales.

“As the proud hosts of today’s event, we congratulate all the schools for their remarkable effort – building a spacecraft is no small feat.

“Wales is a thriving hub of space innovation, and initiatives like these are helping to secure the future of our sector and provide the vital pipeline of talent we need.

“We encourage all participants to explore the rewarding and exciting opportunities available in our growing space sector.”

Six schools took part, including Ceredigion representation from Aberaeron’s Ceredigion Pupil Referral Unit, who were joined by Fitzalan High School, St Cyres School, Ysgol Bro Dinefwr and Coleg Gwent.

Haverfordwest High VC School ultimately came out as champions and will go on to attend the national competition on 1 May in Buckminster against six other regional winners.

The UK champion will then get to attend Paris’ International Youth Rocketry Championship.

This year's competition, organised by the UK space, defence, security and aerospace trade association ADS, is set to be the largest and most geographically diverse in the competition's nearly 20-year long history.

This year was the first regional Welsh competition in 19 years, made possible thanks to funding from the UK Space Agency secured by Snowdonia Space Centre.