Harry Hodgkinson built and fired a rocket engine that had enough power to lift a car reports Sophie Mitchell

A young man in a baseball cap holding a small trophy — Harry with his trophy – (Credit – **Race2Space**)

An A-Level student at East Barnet School has fired the most powerful student-built rocket engine ever recorded in Britain.

Harry Hodgkinson, 19, entered the Race2Space engineering competition solo, taking on more than 300 students from 32 UK universities.

The sixth-former, who had no previous rocket-building experience, designed, built and fired a rocket engine that had enough power to lift a car. His design set a UK student record for its power and efficiency.

In recognition of his solo effort, the competition’s Best Teamwork award was rebranded as the “Teenwork” Award.

Backed by the UK Space Agency, Race2Space brought together students, academics, and industry professionals, as well as special guest Dan Tani, an American engineer and former NASA astronaut.

The competition took place between Wednesday 25th June and Friday 11th July, with 43 hot-fire tests conducted. The winners were awarded last week at Westcott Venture Park in Aylesbury Bucks, the historic home of Britain’s Cold War rocket programme.

Harry is preparing to start a degree apprenticeship with Airbus Defence and Space to gain hands-on, real-world experience with work as a spacecraft propulsion engineer while completing a mechanical engineering degree.

Harry said: “Race2Space is by far the friendliest and most supportive competition I’ve ever been part of. Even though I entered as a solo competitor, I never felt like I was on my own.

“People from other teams, all of them university students, took the time to give me advice, help me refine my design, and share what they’d learned.”

Alistair John, Race2Space co-founder, said: “Harry started with ambition and, thanks to the support of other teams and mentors, he ended up making UK rocketry history.

“His journey shows exactly what Race2Space was created for, to give the next generation of engineers real-world experience in a collaborative environment”

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