The American Rocketry Challenge is an annual American model rocketry competition for students in grades six to 12 sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry. Co-sponsors include NASA, United States Department of Defense, the American Association of Physics Teachers and the Civil Air Patrol. Previously known as the "Team America Rocketry Challenge," the name was changed following the 2019 event.
The event receives local and national media coverage and usually draws well-known representatives of the Defense Department, NASA, the FAA, and other government agencies. Past National Fly-Offs have been attended by United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Rocket Boys author Homer Hickam, former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, and former NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden.
The 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017 International Fly-Offs were won by the American winners of TARC.
History The competition began in 2002 celebration of 100th anniversary of the flight, but due to a high level of interest became an annual occurrence. ARC fosters interest in aerospace engineering careers among its participants, and the National Fly-Off in May is an opportunity for corporations, universities, and the armed services to attract students. The program rebranded in 2019 to the American Rocketry Challenge.
Requirements The requirements for each year's challenge are announced during the summer. Teams generally meet early in the school year, and must make official qualifying flights by early April. A team only has three chances to fly an official qualification attempt; only scores from flights that meet the contest requirements, are safe, and don't break the egg can be submitted. Typically, about 60 percent of participating teams submit at least one qualification score. The teams with the top 100 qualifying scores submitted in April compete in the National Fly-off that is held during May at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia.
ARC challenges students to design, build and launch rockets that can safely carry one, two, or three raw hen eggs (depending on the year's challenge) and consistently come very close to a specified flight altitude and duration. Success requires excellent design, workmanship, and altitude prediction, which means students can learn about engineering, aerodynamics, meteorology, and computer simulation through the program. Scores are calculated as deductions from the perfect flight; the lower the score, the better. The sum of the difference between altitude and the target altitude and four times the difference between duration and the target duration. Many teams consistently achieve scores less than 10.
Awards to winning teams
The top 10 teams receive a share of $100,000 in scholarships and prizes, and the top 25 teams are invited to submit a proposal for one of 15 spots in NASA's Student Launch Initiative. There are additional awards sponsored by AIA member corporations in various categories.
Starting in 2008, the winners of the U.S. competition have been awarded a trip to either the Paris Air Show or the Farnborough Airshow, courtesy of Raytheon Company, to compete with the winners from other participating countries. The United Kingdom and France currently have similar competitions and compete in the international fly-offs; organizations from Germany, Canada and Japan are in the initial planning stages for starting their own competition.
Awards to the program The program has picked up the following awards:
In 2013, Marion C. Blakey, President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, and Susan Lavrakas, AIA’s Director of Workforce, received Aviation Week & Space Technology’s Laureate Award in the workforce category for the association’s outstanding STEM education activities, including the Team America Rocketry Challenge.
In 2014, the National Aeronautic Association named AIA and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) the 2014 recipients of the Frank G. Brewer Trophy. The award serves to recognize an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.
In 2015, the National Coalition for Aviation and Space Education (NCASE) selected the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry to receive its Dr. Mervin K. Strickler Aerospace Education Award, in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the field of aerospace education.
In 2021, the National Aviation Hall of Fame awarded their Spirit of Flight Award to ARC. "The Spirit of Flight Award recognizes organizations that serve a special need of the nation and set high standards by the utilization of aerospace assets. One of the most applicable of the criteria met by the American Rocketry Challenge is the “creativity” that voters of the Spirit of Flight Award are charged to identify."
Annual Contest Parameters and National Fly-Off Results Contest Year National Finals Launch DateParticipating Teams Egg Count/Orientation Altitude Goal Duration Goal Other Contest ParametersTeams with Qualifying Flights Finals Cutoff Score National Finals Winner Winning scoreWinner Result at Int'l Special Guests Notes 2002-03 May 10, 2003873 2 - Rocket must have two stages.275 Boonsboro High School, Boonsboro, MD 0 U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, Rocket Boys author Homer Hickam, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe First annual TARC contest. 2003-04 May 15, 2004610 2 - Rocket must have two stages.201 Penn Manor High School, Millersville, PA 0 U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, U.S. Astronauts Jay Apt and Charlie Walker, Estes Founder Vern Estes Flyover by two USMC F/A-18s 2004-05 May 22, 2005712 1 or 2 - 60 s 1 or 2 stages; bonus for more complex designs271 Dakota County 4-H Federation, Farmington, MN 0.1 U.S. Astronaut Jay Apt, NASA Associate Administrator Adeena Loston Full scale Goddard rocket launch, USMC Presidential Helicopter Squadron flyover 2005-06 May 20, 2006678 1 45 s -39321.15 Statesville Christian School, Statesville, NC 1.79 Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Mars Exploration Rover Scientist Curt Niebur, Director of Defense Research and Engineering John Young, and NASA Associate Administrator Rex Geveden Flyover by 2 USMC AV-8B Harriers 2006-07 May 19, 2007691 1 45 s -30119.25 Newark Memorial High School, Newark, CA 1.86 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and Astronaut Jay Apt F-117 Nighthawk flyover. 2007-08 May 17, 2008643 2 45 s Contest adopts new two round flyoff. Presentation competition introduced.34122.2 Enloe High School (Team 2), Raleigh, NC (Flight 1) 17.64 (Flight 2) 6.3
(Total) 23.94 AIA President Marion Blakey, United States Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne B-2 Spirit flyover. 2008-09 May 16, 2009653 1 (sideways) 45 s38217.6 Madison West High School (Team 3), Madison, WI (Flight 1) 11.94
(Flight 2) 8.6
(Total) 20.54 AIA President Marion Blakey, United States Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley Flyover by T-38s. 2009-10 May 15, 2010669 1 45 s Streamer recovery for egg.33529.5 Penn Manor High School (Team 1), Millersville, PA (Flight 1) 3
(Flight 2) 23.32
(Total) 26.32 United States Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley, Director of Defense Research and Engineering Zachary Lemnios, Textron CEO Scott Donnelly, Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes. Flyover by USAF Heritage Flight: P-51 Mustang, F-16 Falcon, and F-22 Raptor. High Power Rocket with Ace of Cakes payload. 2010-11 May 15, 2011607 1 40-45 s Portion of Rocket containing egg must return with 15in (38 cm) parachute.31815.87 Rockwall-Heath High School (Team 1), Heath, TX(Flight 1) 14
(Flight 2) 2
(Total) 16 AIA President Marion Blakey 2011-12 May 12, 2012678 2 43-47 s Starting now, rockets limited to 650 grams total liftoff weight; motors limited to a single stage 80 N·s (F impulse).40913.2. Madison West High School (Team 1), Madison, WI(Flight 1) 10
(Flight 2) 2
(Total) 12 AIA President Marion Blakey, FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Margaret Gilligan, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Zachary J. Lemnios, Kaman Corporation Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer Neal J. Keating. 2012-13 May 11, 2013735 1 (sideways) 48-50 s Portion of Rocket containing egg must return with 15in (38 cm) parachute. External diameter of rocket must be no less than 60 mm. 47016.12 Georgetown 4H, Georgetown, TX (Flight 1) 5.36
(Flight 2) 23.88
(Total) 29.24 AIA President Marion Blakey, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden 2013-14 May 10, 2014707 2 48-50 s Starting now, best two of three scores summed to determine Finals qualifiers. Rocket must descend with all pieces tethered to two parachutes of the same size.41354.12 Creekview High School (Team 1), Canton, GA (Flight 1) 6
(Flight 2) 8.88
(Total) 14.88 AIA President Marion Blakey, Chief Scientist of the United States Air Force Dr. Mica Endsley 2014-15 May 9, 2015685 1 46-48 s Starting now, rocket minimum length is 650 mm. Payload must descend separately with a single parachute. Second flight altitude goal at finals is .40 Russellville City School, Russellville, AL 16.16 CEO Aurora Flight Sciences John Langford, USAF Major General Martin Whelen, NASA Orion Program Executive Garth Henning, Lockheed Martin Vice President, Space & Missile Defense Programs Eric Thoemmes, Raytheon Vice President U.S. Business Development 2015-16 May 14, 2016 2 (1 axial, 1 sideways) 44-46 s Rocket recovers as 1 piece with a single recovery device of the team's choosing. Second flight altitude goal at finals is ; the duration goal is 43-45 s. Odle Middle School, Bellevue WA13.641 2016-17 May 13, 2017812 1 41-43 s Must use body tubes of two different diameters. The smaller-diameter of the two must be used for the lower (motor and fin) end of the rocket and must not be greater than 42 mm. First flight altitude goal at finals is ; the duration goal is 41-43 s.48931.17 Festus High School, Festus MO 13.841 (USA, JPN, FRA, UK) Brigadier General B. Chance “Salty” Saltzman, the Director of Future Operations, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the U.S. Air Force, Rick Hunt, VADM (Ret.) Raytheon Vice President U.S. Business Development, Dave Machuga, Director and General Manager of Digital Receiver Technology, and William Van Order, LM Fellow at Lockheed Martin Enterprise Business Services.2017-18May 12, 20182800 ft (244 m)41-43 sTwo body sections (BT-70 upper for eggs, BT-80 lower), recovering as one piece. Finals flight targets: Flight 1 800 ft in 41-43 s, then Flight 2 (either 775 ft in 40-42 s or 825 ft, in 42-44 s) by coin toss.Creekview High School, Canton GA21.21 (USA, FRA, JPN, UK)2018-19May 18, 20193856 ft (261 m)43-46 sEgg capsule recovers separately under at least 2 same-shape parachutes (of diameters no more than 2 in difference) from booster section. Finals includes separate non-scoring contest for which rocket most closely resembles the Saturn V. Finals flight targets: Flight 1 856 ft in 43-46 s, then Flight 2 (either 831 ft in 42-45 s or 881 ft, in 44-47 s) by coin toss.Madison West High School (Team 2), Madison WI102 (UK, USA, FRA/JPN tie)Apollo 11 50th Anniversary competition. 856 ft because Armstrong set foot on the Moon at 8:56pm Houston time.2019-20May 16, 20201800 ft (244 m)40-43 sFinals flight targets: 775 ft in 39-42 s and 825 ft in 41-44 s.NONE- National Final Fly-Off postponedNoneCOVID-19 lockdowns impacted most teams' ability to gather, build, and attempt qualifying flights, leading to cancelation of the Finals.2020-21See Notes1800 ft (244 m)40-43 sFinals flight targets: 810 ft in 40-43 s and 860 ft in 42-45 s.Oregon Episcopal School, Portland OR7.7VIRTUAL FINALS
Birmingham, AL – June 12 Brighton, WI – June 12 Dayton, OH – June 12 & 13 Lucerne Valley, CA – June 11 & 13 Palm Beach, FL – June 12 & 13 Pasco, WA – June 13 Pueblo, CO – June 19 Reno, NV – June 12