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2025-26 Competition Season Registration Is Now Open!
Challenge 2025-26 Overview
Challenge 2025-26 Overview
Participants in teams of three must design, build, and successfully launch/recover a rocket to reach an altitude of 550 ft, return within 33-36 seconds, and contain a payload of one large hen’s egg turned on its side. The painted or decorated rocket must be of two different body tube diameters. The bottom section must be at least 8 inches long. The rocket must have only one stage and be powered by a commercially made model rocket motor of “E” or lower power class. The rocket must be recovered in two pieces using at least one parachute. Launching with a launch lug is encouraged as this is the most common equipment on the field.
Teams can join the challenge from anywhere in the United States!
Suggested Timeline
Suggested Timeline
SEPTEMBER: Get Started & Build the Foundation
OCTOBER: Learn, Test, and Simulate
NOVEMBER: Design, Build, and Prepare
DECEMBER: Begin Testing
JANUARY: Test & Refine
FEBRUARY: Finalize Rocket Design and Start Oral Presentation Slide Deck
MARCH-APRIL: Finalize Presentation and One Last Launch
APRIL-MAY: Compete and Have Fun!
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Click HERE for the full list of suggested activities
Oral Presentation Requirements
Oral Presentation Requirements
Teams should use PowerPoint, Google Slides, or similar software to create the presentation of no more than 20 slides. The first slide should be a cover page (team name, member names, and mission patch). The second slide is the introduction of team members. The remainder of the presentation must include diagrams, pictures, graphs, and videos of students’ work collected during the season.
Successful teams will use the presentation to explain the rocket—how it was designed/built, dimensions and weight, and motor type. Groups should also apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to rocket flight, explain how data was collected, and demonstrate the difference between weight/mass. Teams should also explain how data determined any adjustments made to the rocket to make sure the rocket performed to specifications.
The final slides should discuss how the lessons learned during the competition season apply to members’ lives and the aerospace industry. For example, learning can be applied to past and future NASA, SpaceX, etc., missions, to possible careers in aerospace/STEAM fields, and any changes in goals after graduation from high school.
Pilot Year Promotional Video
Teams of Three Students
Teams of Three Students
complete a variety of STEM design challenges,
build and launch model rockets,
deliver a 10-minute oral presentation,
and maintain an Engineering Design Notebook.
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