White Noise NTUA | Aurora Takes Flight

EUROC 2026 / CONSTÂNCIA, PORTUGAL

Our first EuRoC.
Two awards.

In October 2026, our first high-power competition rocket, Aurora, completed a successful flight and recovery. White Noise NTUA placed 6th overall and received two of the competition’s ten awards.

EUROC 2026 / 01 AWARD WINNER

Best Rookie Team

Recognised for our first participation at the European Rocketry Challenge, reflecting the design, integration and flight of a fully student-developed vehicle.

White Noise NTUA receiving the Rookie of the Year Award at EuRoC 2026 — Rookie of the Year / EuRoC 2026

EUROC 2026 / 02 AWARD WINNER

Payload Award

Awarded for CHLOE, our research payload investigating airborne microplastics with optical sensing and digital holographic microscopy.

OUR DEBUT CAMPAIGN

6^th overall

2 / 10

Competition awards received by White Noise

12

Flights conducted during the competition

7

Successful flights — Aurora among them

PROJECT AURORA / FLIGHT & RECOVERY

From liftoff
to recovery.

The flight was more than the ascent. Aurora’s fairings opened at apogee, the drogue and main parachutes deployed, and the vehicle was successfully recovered.

PEAK ALTITUDE2,507 m AGL

EuRoC 2026 flight

Aurora ascending under motor power with a visible exhaust plume

01 / ASCENT

Liftoff

Powered ascent following launch from the rail.

Aurora high in the sky under its initial recovery parachute

02 / APOGEE

Drogue deployed

Fairings opened at apogee, followed by drogue-assisted descent.

03 / 450 M AGL

Main parachute

Main deployment initiated at approximately 450 metres AGL.

04 / DESCENT

Controlled descent

Stable, parachute-assisted descent towards the landing area.

Aurora and the main parachute approaching the treeline before landing

05 / RECOVERY

Final approach

Nominal landing, followed by recovery of the reusable vehicle.

Swipe to see the complete sequence

RECOVERY RESULT

Nominal deployment. Successful recovery.

Both parachute stages operated during the flight, and Aurora returned to the ground as a reusable vehicle. The mission also produced flight data to support further improvements.

Explore Aurora

PAYLOAD AWARD / EUROC 2026

Science at
altitude.

Aurora carried CHLOE, an experimental payload designed to investigate the vertical distribution of airborne microplastics using a digital holographic microscope.

Microplastics have been studied through ground-based sampling, laboratory analysis and atmospheric models. What remains less well characterised is how their concentration and particle properties vary with altitude, and how atmospheric transport influences where they are found.

CHLOE was developed to bring direct particle measurements into this gap, combining atmospheric sampling, optical particle detection and holographic imaging in a compact system carried on board a sounding rocket.

Recognised with the EuRoC 2026 Payload Award for the research concept and engineering work.

Engineering work on the CHLOE scientific payload — CHLOE / DIGITAL HOLOGRAPHIC MICROSCOPY

THE RESEARCH QUESTION

How do airborne microplastics change across altitude?

Understanding vertical particle profiles could improve how we study atmospheric transport, exposure pathways and the reliability of environmental models.

MISSION OBJECTIVE 0–3,000 m

Target altitude range for particle measurements and characterisation during descent.

THE EXPERIMENT

From an air sample to particle data.

01

Air sampling

Atmospheric air enters the payload’s flow channel.

02

Particle counting

Optical sensing provides particle measurements.

03

Holographic imaging

A digital holographic microscope records particle information.

04

Data analysis

Image processing and future classification methods support particle characterisation.

The workflow describes the experiment’s research approach; full particle and polymer classification remains a subject of further analysis and validation.

WHAT THE FLIGHT DELIVERED

Real flight data. Ongoing research.

CHLOE collected environmental and microparticle data during Aurora’s flight. The experiment achieved a partial technical success; analysis and validation are ongoing. The longer-term goal is to support altitude-resolved atmospheric studies and improve understanding of airborne microplastics.

BEHIND THE MISSION

THE PEOPLE.
THE PROCESS.

Design reviews, last-minute checks, subsystem work and the moments that made our first EuRoC campaign unforgettable.

White Noise NTUA team at EuRoC 2026 — The team / EuRoC 2026

Aurora electronics preparation — Avionics

Fairings assembly and preparation — Fairings

White Noise at the flight readiness review — Flight readiness

Team representatives at the awards — Celebrating together

JOIN US

WHY WHITE NOISE?

We're a student-led rocketry and aerospace engineering team from the National Technical University of Athens. Our projects take engineering beyond the classroom.

Hands-on Engineering

Design, manufacture, test and operate real aerospace systems.

Technical Development

Develop practical skills in design, simulation, embedded systems, testing and research.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Work alongside students with different backgrounds to solve demanding engineering challenges.

Learn by Doing

Gain experience from real projects, international competitions and experienced team members.

Leadership & Ownership

Take responsibility for systems, decisions, project milestones and mission outcomes.

Apply Now Learn More

The White Noise NTUA team together at EuRoC 2026 — WHITE NOISE NTUA / EUROC 2026

White Noise NTUA at the EuRoC 2026 launch site

OUR MISSION

ADVANCING
GREEK
AEROSPACE.

We're establishing Greece as a hub for aerospace research, strengthening our country's expertise and presence on the international aerospace stage.

Through student-driven innovation, collaboration and competition success, we're building the foundation for Greece's aerospace future — one launch at a time.

Advanced mechanisms and concepts

Innovative flight control

Contributions to the engineering community

OUR JOURNEY

MILESTONES.

2017–2018

1st Place — DrillSat

DrillSat claimed 1st place at CanSat in Greece, with a satellite designed to drill into and analyze soil samples after descent.

2018–2019

4th Worldwide — Daedalus & Icarus

Daedalus achieved 4th place out of 93 international teams at the CanSat World Finals, while Icarus secured 2nd place nationally at CanSat in Greece.

2019–2021

Cronos — Hybrid Rocket Motor

Cronos became Greece's first open-source hybrid rocket motor, designed, manufactured and static-fire tested by students.

2025–2026

Aurora Takes Flight — EuRoC 2026

Aurora completed its debut flight at EuRoC 2026, reaching 2,507 m AGL with successful recovery. White Noise earned the Best Rookie Team and Payload awards and finished 6th overall.

OUR WORK