Students from Abbeyfield School in Chippenham have reached new heights with the successful launch of their rocket Enigma 3.

A team of Year 8 and 9 students entered the United Kingdom Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge, and spent months designing, building and carrying out a series of test launches.

After securing sponsorship from Chemring Energetics UK Ltd, the group designed and launched a rocket that went right through the clouds and reached 790ft in a flight just short of 40 seconds, with its payload of one raw medium-sized hen’s egg returning to earth intact.

Students Samuel Davies, Annabelle Hearn, Dominic Clarke and Benjamin Holloway were helped by teachers Dr Ros Strickland and Junior Fowlin.

They were delighted to be one of 20 teams making it through to the finals, which were held on Tuesday at Leicester University Mr Fowlin said: “All the students involved have worked extremely hard to achieve this success, working through lunches and after school clubs to get where they are. They have conquered a very steep learning curve in a short space of time and fended off some fairly hefty, well established competition to get there.”

For the finals teams were set an altitude of 825ft within a flight time between 40 and 45 seconds, again carrying an egg, and the winners were the ones coming closest to those criteria.

Abbeyfield achieved a height of 848ft in 27.46 seconds making them come in at ninth overall in a competition described as tight by the organisers.

The winners were Horsforth School, near Leeds with a height of 837ft in 36.52 secs – closest to the criteria.

Ian Godden, chairman of the organisers, said: “The contestants who gathered here today represent the future of the UK aerospace industry.

“It is more than encouraging to see so much enthusiasm and passion blossoming in the minds of tomorrow.”

The members of their Abbeyfield teams are disappointed but are already planning their strategy so that they can win next year’s competition.