The Rocket Launchers organization at UTRGV has entered the Base 11 Space Challenge, a $1 million prize competition in which the first college to design, build and launch a liquid-propelled, single-stage rocket to an altitude of 100 km will be the winner.
Rocket Launchers was founded three years ago, and its purpose is for students to gain experience in high-power rocketry. They have been competing in other challenges, including the Spaceport America Cup.
The Base 11 Space Challenge is sponsored by a California-based company, Base 11. Forty-eight to 52 colleges from the U.S. and Canada are competing for the prize.
“What they want to do is see if they could send small rockets into space … to decrease expenses,” said Marco Rojas, president of the organization and a mechanical engineering senior.
Base 11 contacted Rocket Launchers and asked if they were interested in joining the challenge. It took around three weeks to have all the paperwork done, according to Rojas.
If the students win the competition, the prize will be divided between the school and the organization. Rojas talked about the competition with the dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
“Before applying to the competition, I had to speak with the dean,” Rojas said. “The dean and I agreed that the college was [going] to spend their part into scholarships for students who want to have a career in the aerospace engineering field … other organizations [and] … the facilities.”
If it wins, the organization will use its share of the prize for research and to improve their equipment.
The competition is divided into three phases: Phase 1, which is the preliminary design deadline; Phase 2, the critical design deadline; and Phase 3, which is the launch readiness deadline. It is a two- to three-year contest, depending on the launching window.
The first colleges are launching their rockets in May 2020, but they have time to try until December 2021.
Rocket Launchers will receive help from staff members, but their main adviser is Stephen Crown, a mechanical engineering professor.
“The faculty advisers are there to help us out in … math problems that we just cannot solve, or give us advising [on] what kind of material we can use or process,” Rojas said.
Crown said he feels honored and proud of the organization’s accomplishments.
“I’m sure that there are many other good schools … but I don’t think we are second to anyone,” he said. “We have an excellent group of students, faculty [and] an excellent university that supports good work.”
Jose Infante, an active member of the organization and a mechanical engineering senior, said he feels excited about the competition, because he wanted to get involved in aerospace engineering.
“Everything I learn from this I will … hopefully use in my future career,” Infante said.
The organization welcomes students who wish to join the competition. Since it is a two- to three-year process, sophomores, juniors, graduate students and students in the STEM field are preferred.
Rojas said if the organization wins the contest, it will be an important breakthrough for Hispanics in aerospace engineering.
“We are a Hispanic university and my team is a Hispanic team,” he said. “… We really want to win this, not only for ourselves, but because we know we represent our ethnicity, and our people back home.”
