Could a GDST school be the first all-girls school to send a satellite into space?

On 1 July 2025, a team of Croydon High School students—known as the Astrogazers—conducted live flight testing of their CubeSat systems on board the FAAM Airborne Laboratory at Cranfield University.

“These students are a testament to what is possible when we encourage our girls to reach for the stars.” – Natasha Irons MP

As the BBC have reported, their pioneering project could mean Croydon High is the first all-girls school in the world to design, build and launch a satellite into space.

This latest development was the culmination of a year of intensive lab and environmental testing for Mission Pegasus, including collaboration with the Surrey Space Centre and the installation of a remote sensor station on the school’s rooftop.

“This is real science performed at the highest level,” said Head of Physics, Mrs Arabi Karteepan. “Our students are testing a working satellite instrument under flight conditions. We’re incredibly proud of them.”

The team has already built a prototype satellite instrument capable of surviving space conditions. The next phases will involve building a space-grade engineering model and securing a rocket launch partner ahead of a planned deployment in 2026–27.

This amazing story has drawn keen interest from BBC London News as well as been praised in the House of Commons. Natasha Irons, Labour MP for Croydon East, has signed a motion on behalf of the Astrogazers. Watch this ‘space’…

Championing Girls in STEM

With backing from experts at Spirent Communications, the University of Bath and other leading institutions, Croydon High’s Astrogazers are blazing a trail for the next generation of female scientists, technologists, engineers and space explorers. They’re also solving real-world problems and collaborating with scientists and engineers across the country.

“Mission Pegasus is more than a project,” said Headmistress Annabel Davies. “It’s a statement of what girls can achieve when they are encouraged to aim high and supported to follow through.”

Croydon High School is part of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), a family of 26 girls’ schools across England and Wales. At each school we encourage our students to immerse themselves in the subjects that interest them the most, free from gender-stereotyping, and to reach for the stars. Beyond their schooling with us, a number of former students have gone on to have exciting careers in STEM, such as astronaut Rosemary Coogan, a Brighton Girls alumna, who is currently training at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, bringing her ever closer to her dream of getting to space.

Find out more about the GDST