Mission Statement

Updated as of April 25, 2008.

* The next ESRA Workshop has been canceled.

Information on the Third Intercollegiate Rocket Launch Competition Added.

The judging sheet can be downloaded here.

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The Experimental Sounding Rocket Association is dedicated to getting students of all ages excited about rocketry and space exploration through building and launching experimental sounding rockets and other rocket-related technology.

Sponsor: Rocky Mountain NASA Space Grant Consortium

An "experimental sounding" rocket bridges the gap between "experimental" or "research" rockets built by hobbyists and professional/government "sounding" rockets that reach suborbital space, with potentially some overlap at each end of the spectrum. Generally, "experimental sounding rockets" can be a small as launching a 10-pound payload to 10,000 feet above the ground, to being able to launch a 50-pound payload in excess of 100 miles altitude.

Sponsor: USU College of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Our current emphasis is on:

• Holding annual Intercollegiate Rocket Launch Competitions to give college engineering and science students hands-on experience in building and launching experimental sounding rockets and their payloads. As part of this effort, we also conduct Experimental Sounding Rocket Workshops for college teams to help them develop their own rocket programs for participation in the competitions.
• Providing exciting Outreach programs and demonstrations to K-12 students including student-built rocket launches and static firings of powerful rocket motors on a portable demonstration trailer.
• Developing Student Launch Opportunities for launching Cubesat payloads in excess of 62 miles (100 km) altitude for in-space testing of future orbital payloads on other vehicles.