We are Strath Union, your Students’ Union - the beating heart of activity for students on Strathclyde campus since 1964.
About Us
We run events year-round where you can let loose, let go, just throw a couple shapes and put your skills on show.
Events
We provide free and confidential advice for students, covering academic support, wellbeing and more.
Advice
University is all about finding friends, finding community, and finding yourself.
Societies
Sports Union
We exist to represent all students at the University of Strathclyde. We make sure your voice is heard across the University and beyond.
Voice
Enhance your CV, develop skills, find a part-time job and get more involved with your local community.
Opportunities
The Union is a great place to meet friends, study, grab lunch or take a break. Have a look and discover our variety of venues.
Food & Drink
Bag the latest Strath branded merch, get the latest student deals and explore memberships available at the Union!
Shop
StrathSEDS hosts weekly sessions for those interested in space and the industry, as well as hosting a successful rocketry team
Badges explained
StrathSEDS is the local branch of UKSEDS – UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space – a national network of like-minded students, who all have a passion for the space industry. UKSEDS gives us excellent opportunities to help us get into the industry, such as the National Student Space Conference, rocketry and other space-related competitions, networking opportunities, space careers advice, and many more.
Here at Strathclyde, we split our business into two weekly meetings. On Tuesdays, we provide an opportunity to showcase their passion for space or learn more, and on Thursdays, we work on entries to competitions such as the Mach-X competitions (which we won in 2022!) and NRC.
Our Tuesday sessions are extremely varied, with all members of the committee hosting short workshops, interactive talks, presentations, and our biannual Drink Talk Learn session.
We try to have semi-regular talks from the industry. In the past, we have had talks from
And we’re inviting more talkers from industry in the coming academic year.
One of our alumni talking after their year in industry at CERN
At least once a semester, we try to have some interactive workshops that are both entertaining and useful to your studies. Some of our past workshops include CAD/3D Printing & destructive testing, and OpenRocket.
After our Tuesday sessions, we offer an opportunity to unwind even more. Most Tuesdays, we end up in the Union, but occasionally we do host socials, such as bowling, karting, and last year we had a sub-crawl with all the other space societies in Glasgow.
StrathSEDS has a long history of success at competitions. In 2013, team Just Testing won the National Rocketry Championship. Much more recently, in 2022, team RF Magic won the 1km Combined category at Mach-22, and in 2023, we won Best PFR at Mach-23.
Launched in 2022, Strathosphere I was StrathSEDS’ return to flight after a long hiatus. It launched 2 500g CanSats to an altitude of 1010m and descended as intended on a single parachute. The CanSats (BOD I & II) and the rocket’s avionics system formed an aerial mesh network to facilitate communications between two ground stations without line of sight.
Our trophy for winning our category at Mach-22!
Strathosphere I sat on the launch pad
After a launch failure at the Mach-23 competition, Strathosphere II was launched at International Rocket Week with no payload to an altitude of 3158m. It was intended to descend on a drogue parachute and deploy a main at a lower altitude, but the main was deployed at apogee, resulting in a long trek to recover.
We suffered a premature deployment at Mach-23
This is our Pathfinder-like CanSat we planned to fly
Strathosphere II sat on the launch rail at International Rocket Week
Strathosphere II milliseconds after motor ignition, accelerating into the skies at 13.4G
We returned to the National Rocketry Championshop in 2023, launching Still Testing to 594m. This rocket debuted a Fly-Away Rail Guide system to be further refined and used on higher-altitude rockets. Unfortunately, the rocket was not recovered and remains somewhere in the fields of the Midlands Rocketry Club to this day.
Still Testing outside Kelvingrove art gallery
At Mach-24, we intended to fly this rocket and payload, BOD IV, on a K-class motor to 3km, however this launch did not occur due to issues during ejection testing.
Strathosphere III after being unable to launch due to weather at International Rocketry Week
The Avionics bay of Strathosphere III, housing our own flight computer Firefly 1.1
Testing My Patience was designed as a workhorse rocket to fly Firefly Ultra – our newest, most compact dual-deploy capable flight computer – through the UKRA certification process. At NRC 2025, it flew to an altitude of ___, and used a new Fly-Away Rail Guide system and SRAD motor retainer.
Testing My Patience a few minutes before launch
The team celebrating after getting 2nd Place at NRC 2025
Mach-25 marked a return to high-power flight, launching Strathosphere IV on a K1440 to 2284m with its payload, BOD V. Additionally, a fly-away rail guide system was verified on this flight, with minimal damage.
Strathosphere IV a few days before her maiden voyage
We are entering Mach-X for the 6th year in a row - more information to come as the sign-up date draws closer!
Moving into the future of StrathSEDS, we want to fly our student-developed vehicles and avionics even higher – yes, higher than 10,000ft. Following our success at Mach-25, we are investigating further expermental rocketry configurations, as well as potentially breaking the Scottish Student Altitude Record. Future improvements to our SRAD flight computer include transmitting live video from our launch vehicle and transmitting over 2.4GHz, and our coding team will be working on a tracking ground station to point at the vehicle throughout its flight.
We have found that most people are hungry for more after building a team rocket, so we will be looking into whether we could help a few people new to the hobby build their own rocket for certification with the UKRA
You could be a part of these exciting upcoming projects!
Words cannot explain the thrill of watching the product of a full year of work boost off the launch pad at 13.4G, you’ll have to see for yourself!
Get your membership now and be part of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space - SEDS.