Our crowdfunding campaign has ended, but you can still support the Rocket Project at UCLA by clicking here.
We are the Rocket Project at UCLA, a club where students with no prior experience can build and launch rockets. Our students are passionate about space flight, and we believe that our generation is capable of traveling farther than ever into space. This year we have an exciting project...
Every year we launch our vehicles tens of thousands of feet into the sky for collegiate competitions, hands-on experience, research, and sometimes just for fun. This year, we're aiming higher than ever: 330,000 feet high, with the first rocket built by college students to fly into space.
Our students typically study engineering, math, and science at UCLA, but we also have a vested interest in humanities and education, hoping to foster support for better public education in the community, especially in science and technology. Our outreach program brings Rocket Project student leaders to primary schools (K-12) in the Los Angeles area to share our experiences with the younger students in the classroom. We hope to show them how exciting projects can be as an engineer, hopefully inspiring their young creative minds to follow their dreams.
Today role models can be found in professional athletes, performers, and political figures, but there aren't many famous engineers for students to take after, especially for those from underrepresented backgrounds. We hope to showcase our students as role models, breaking down stigmas of the stereotypical engineer and opening pathways for passionate young people to become future aerospace engineers. No college team has ever launched a rocket above the Karman Line (~330,000 ft.) into space, and the feat is often considered impossible for amateurs, but by attempting to do it we hope to bring excitement to the STEM fields, and prove that the impossible can be achieved by anyone.
Our group started as an engineering team, competing at international competitions for amateur rocketry since 2007. In 2018, we won 2nd place at the Spaceport America Cup, and separately broke the altitude record for a student-built liquid propellant rocket. These achievements came from students with no prior experience, and this year we are only aiming higher. Rocket technology has existed for over half a century, but practical skills necessary to build them are still not taught in most universities. It is up to us to provide projects for our students, and every donation to the Rocket Project at UCLA will go toward materials and tools for students to construct rockets. With these resources, we hope to demonstrate the value of hands-on learning by launching a rocket to space by 2021.
Above is the breakdown for how each phase of the project will be funded. Currently, we are in development of a sub-scale vehicle, but future developments will require more resources. That is where you come in! For every donation up to our goal of $25,000, the UCLA School of Engineering Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will match your amount in full, meaning your donation will go twice as far! Please consider donating even a small amount ($1-5) or sharing our campaign online with #SpaceShot. We hope to demonstrate there is public interest in space exploration and STEM education, so every unique donation, like, and share helps us tally the supporters for our school and the world to see.
Thank you so much, and GO BRUINS!
If you donate $10, we will give you a shout-out on social media! (Twitter and/or Facebook)
If you donate $25 you will receive a Rocket Project sticker for decorating your laptop, water bottle, or whatever you choose! AND you will receive all the previous perks. ($24 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $50, you will receive a custom red flight tag with "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" on one side and the Rocket Project at UCLA logo on the reverse. AND you will receive all the previous perks. ($45 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $100 you will receive a Rocket Project team T-shirt for the 2018-19 year! ($90 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $150 you will receive a Rocket Project team T-shirt for the 2018-19 year! AND you will receive all the previous perks. ($135 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $250 you will receive a Rocket Project baseball cap! ($230 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $500 you will receive a Rocket Project baseball cap! AND you will receive all the previous perks. ($465 tax-deductible donation)
If you donate $1,000, you will be invited to attend one of our test launches or competitions! Additionally we will invite you on a private tour through our lab, AND you will receive all the previous perks. (A $964 tax-deductible donation)