Two student teams in finals of Mars Rover Competition in the USA
The Astronautics Student Research Group (SKA) and the Robotics Student Research Group (KNR), both operating within the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology, have qualified for the finals of the University Rover Challenge 2025 (URC) – the world’s most prestigious student competition in space robotics.
The finals will take place from 28 to 31 May 2025 at the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert, USA.
Out of more than 100 teams from around the world, only 38 advanced to the finals. Just four European teams made the cut – two of which are from the Warsaw University of Technology.
SKA Robotics – Experience Driving Innovation
In this year’s URC, the SKA Robotics team will showcase their Sirius II rover – an advanced design continuously refined since 2020. The rover has already proven its mettle in international competitions, securing 4th place at the European Rover Challenge 2023, 3rd place at the Anatolian Rover Challenge 2024, and 2nd place in the qualifiers for the Makeathon ARES 2025.
Sirius II is equipped with a brand-new, precision six-axis manipulator for operating control panels and handling objects. The team has also developed a scientific module for analysing Martian soil samples to detect signs of life. A key feature of the rover is its autonomous driving system combining 3D environment scanning with GPS data, enabling 5 cm positional accuracy.
The Astronautical Student Research Group (SKA) is one of WUT’s largest and most decorated student organizations, with over 200 members across four divisions: robotics, rocketry, balloon technologies, and satellite systems (PW-Sat). Their achievements include launching Poland’s first student satellite, PW-Sat, and collaborating on projects with the European Space Agency and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
KNR Rover Team – Technical Precision Meets Fresh Vision
The KNR Rover Team qualified for the URC 2025 finals with their HAL-062 rover, developed since 2017. After debuting at the European Rover Challenge (14th place out of 69 global teams), the team overhauled the design for Utah:
“We’ve made significant upgrades compared to previous iterations,” emphasized Dominik Chmielak, President of KNR. “We developed a new laboratory module based on our proprietary spectrometer, optimized the 3D-printed wheels, and built an advanced autonomous navigation system using a computing unit equipped with an NVIDIA RTX 4070S graphics card.”
The Robotics Student Research Group (KNR) is an interdisciplinary team specializing in mobile, humanoid, underwater, and aerial robots. Their projects are regularly awarded at international competitions and showcased at scientific conferences.
URC – Simulating Mars Missions
Organized by The Mars Society, the University Rover Challenge tasks student teams with designing rovers capable of executing mission-critical tasks inspired by real planetary exploration. Finalists must complete: a scientific mission, payload delivery, equipment servicing, and fully autonomous navigation. The competition takes place in harsh desert conditions that closely resemble the Martian environment.