KUCHING: Two student teams from Sarawak will represent the state on the Asia-Pacific stage after achieving commendable results at the Malaysia Rocket CanSat Competition (MRCC) 2026 in Perak.

The teams from SMK Padungan and Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak each secured third place in their respective categories, qualifying them to compete in the APRSAF-32 CanSat International Competition in Thailand from 27 to 30 October 2026.

SMK Padungan placed third in the 1KM Rocket & CanSat category, while Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak finished third in the 1KM Rocket category at the MRCC 2026 finals, held from 8 to 10 September at FELCRA Seberang, Perak.

Both teams were among three Sarawak representatives that advanced to MRCC 2026 after emerging as winners of the Sarawak Rocketeers CanSat Challenge (SRC) 2026, alongside SMK Penrissen, which also represented Sarawak at the national-level competition.

MRCC 2026, spearheaded by the National Planetarium and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), in collaboration with the High Energy Material Research Laboratory (HEMREL) of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), brought together 650 students from 130 registered teams nationwide.

Of these, 425 students from 104 teams qualified for the final and launch phase in Pasir Salak, Perak, with the support of 152 academic mentors.

Throughout the competition, the students applied their skills through project presentations, CanSat (Can Satellite) system preparation, technical tasks and rocket launches, while gaining experience in aerospace technology alongside teams from Malaysia and other countries.

The achievement has paved the way for SMK Padungan and Sekolah Seni Malaysia Sarawak to compete against secondary school student teams from across the Asia-Pacific region at the APRSAF-32 CanSat International Competition in Thailand.

Chairman of Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (TEGAS) Datuk Len Talif Salleh said the achievement demonstrated the effectiveness of SRC as a platform for providing Sarawak’s youth with opportunities to develop their skills and potential in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as well as aerospace technology.

“This achievement shows that when young people are given the opportunity to explore and test their ideas, they are capable of taking those skills to a higher level.

“TEGAS will continue to provide opportunities to empower local talent and support the aspirations of PCDS 2030,” he said in a media statement on Friday.

SRC is a TEGAS initiative that provides secondary school students in Sarawak with exposure through project-based learning in CanSat and rocket development, before the best teams are selected to compete at the national level. -UKASnews

Translator: Uilson Ng