Some recent rocketry items of interest:

** Reach for the Stars is holding the 18th RFTS National Rocket Competition. Students 10 to 18 years of age compete in groups of 12 or more by launching model rockets available from RFTS. Details available on the RFTS website.

** Student teams launch rockets from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico: NMSU Atomic Aggies & Civil Air Patrol Launch Rockets at Spaceport America | Spaceport America – Feb.17.2026

Students from New Mexico State University (NMSU) and the Albuquerque Heights Composite Squadron (a.k.a. Spirit Squadron), unit NM-083 of the Civil Air Patrol, completed a series of rocket launches at Spaceport America on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026.

Saturday’s event was coordinated in part by NMSU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering student Joshua Davila, who serves as the Atomic Aggies’ (the competition rocketry team of NMSU) National Association of Rocketry (NAR) Section #982 President and Solid Propulsions Lead. In addition to identifying the NAR fliers from NMSU, Davila also involved seven American Rocketry Challenge (ARC) teams throughout the region to promote Saturday’s event as an opportunity to conduct preliminary launches.

“We, the Atomic Aggies, are incredibly proud of the growing community of local rocketry enthusiasts we are building connections with,” said Davila. “We’re thrilled to have local American rocketry challenge teams joining us for launches at Spaceport America.” The NMSU students who launched represented the Atomic Aggies Rocketry Team. Of the team members in attendance, 10 earned their Level 1 certifications from the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) for succeeding in launching their rockets up to 1,700 feet. Of the 11 rockets launched from the spaceport, 10 achieved successful flights.

Led by Lt. Col. Michael O’Dell, the Albuquerque Civil Air Patrol team members were able to launch their rocket three times, completing the preliminary work for their ARC launches. The ARC is the world’s largest student rocket competition, and boasts over 1,100 middle and high school teams who will be competing at Great Meadow Foundation in The Plains, Va., in May of 2026.

“The annual American Rocketry Challenge provides our Civil Air Patrol cadets a five-month long hands-on science and engineering challenge, and they love it,” O’Dell commented. “I brag about our students and how bright they are, but for me this represents another opportunity; to showcase New Mexico. This group and those that follow will all go off to universities and set loftier goals and with this experience coupled with these types of partnerships, we can keep some of them right here in our state.”

…

** The latest newsletter of the Mojave Air & Space Port reports on an upcoming advanced rocketry competition event: FAR‑OUT Returns to the Mojave Desert This May | Ascend Mojave Newsletter – March.2026 (pdf)

The Friends of Amateur Rocketry – Oxidizers Uninhibited Tournament (FAR‑OUT) is back, bringing one of the most innovative grassroots rocketry competitions in the country to the Mojave Desert. This first‑of‑its‑kind event showcases commercial‑off‑the‑shelf (COTS) hybrids, research hybrids, and research liquid engines as teams compete to most accurately hit a pre‑simulated “contract” apogee. With scoring groups ranging from 5,000’ to 110,000’—and exhibition flights reaching up to 240,000’—FAR‑OUT highlights precision engineering at every level. Teams may also static fire on‑site to demonstrate motor efficiency. 

The tournament kicks off Wednesday, May 27, 2026, with an opening ceremony and technical conference at the Stuart Witt Event Center at Mojave Air & Space Port. The conference features poster sessions, podium presentations, and industry tours with local aerospace partners. Setup and test days run Thursday and Friday, followed by three full days of launches from May 30 through June 1 at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry site. FAR‑OUT continues to grow as a celebration of experimental rocketry, hands‑on engineering, and the unique flight‑test ecosystem of Mojave. 

For more information visit: faroutlaunch.org

Info on the teams can be found here.

Chris McLeod, instructor for the rocket engineering program at Brazoswood High School in Clute, Texas near Houston, sent me the news that the 2022 senior “Goddard Rocket Team”

designed and built an SRAD [student researched and designed] hybrid rocket which launched to a verified 45,482′ AGL (49,523′ MSL). This came within 1% of the 50,000′ ceiling at WSMR [White Sands Missile Range].

The Horizon 1 rocket used  nitrous oxide with a solid 3D printed fuel grain.

The team set a world record for high school rockets:

All information was validated by the U.S. Army at the White Sands Missile Range a few weeks later, “Brazoswood High School set a new world record for altitude achieved by a student-built, hybrid-motor propelled rocket reaching 45,482 feet above ground level, beating Fredericksburg High School’s record of 36,100 feet and earning the the SystemsGo Kepler Award.”

McLeod notes

that this rocket, from research, design, and fabrication, was all completed in just one school year, with just one chance at launch, and that the students themselves learned the machining, composites, and other fabrication required to build the vehicle.

Check out the project website, which includes details of the rocket’s design and construction and also a summary of the flight, which took place on June 26, 2022.

Here are videos of the flight and student activities before and after the launch.

See also their lessons learned and advice to those seeking to break this record.

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