Space could be final frontier for QEGS Horncastle's James

James Pearson (13) landed top spot in the UK Space Agency’s nationwide competition which was open to people up to the age of 22.

The mission, set by the ‘SatelLife Challenge’, was to come up with innovative ideas on how to use satellite data to improve life on Earth.

James was inspired to look at what satellites could do for coastal change after seeing how recent flooding had affected some family friends.

His idea was for a mobile app which collects, analyses and visualises a range of data to allow users to see changes in the coastal environment over time.

It would also ‘geo-tag’ wildlife to track sightings, view trends in weather and climate data and monitor sea levels.

James described winning the competition as ‘fantastic’ and said he was ‘thrilled’.

He said: “This competition has taken me on a massive learning curve. It has inspired me to learn more about satellites and space technology,

“It is just incredible what information is inside every image. You can see the world in a completely new perspective - it has given me an entirely different view of the world as well as around my home.

“What was impressive to me was how my local coast has changed over a short time. Hopefully I can use this knowledge to help protect the environment and change other people’s perspectives as well.”

James, who wants to be an engineer, said he would like to use the prize money to buy a computer so that he can start to build the app.

James, who lives in Boston, entered the competition after it was posted on the UK Space Agency Facebook page. He will now get the chance to pitch his idea to a group of industry expert ‘dragons’, who could decide to take it on as a project.

He is also set to present his entry at the UK SpaceConference in Manchester at the end of May.