Over 1,000 students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched high-powered, amateur rockets on April 13, just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the agency’s annual Student Launch competition.
Teams of middle school, high school, college, and university students were tasked to design, build, and launch a rocket and scientific payload to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while making a successful landing and executing a scientific or engineering payload mission.
“These bright students rise to a nine-month challenge that tests their skills in engineering, design, and teamwork,” said Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region. “They are the Artemis Generation, the future scientists, engineers, and innovators who will lead us into the future of space exploration.”
NASA announced the University of Notre Dame is the overall winner of the agency’s 2024 Student Launch challenge, followed by Iowa State University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A complete list challenge winners can be found on the agency’s student launch web page.
Each year NASA implements a new payload challenge to reflect relevant missions. This year’s payload challenge is inspired by the Artemis missions, which seek to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
The complete list of award winners are as follows:
2024 Overall Winners
- First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
- Second place: Iowa State University, Ames
- Third place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
3D Printing Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
Altitude Award
College Level:
- First place: Iowa State University, Ames
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Morris County 4-H, Califon, New Jersey
Best-Looking Rocket Award:
College Level:
- First place: New York University, Brooklyn, New York
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Notre Dame Academy High School, Los Angeles
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Reusable Launch Vehicle Innovative Payload Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Colorado Boulder
- Second place: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
- Third place: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Judge’s Choice Award:
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Second place: Young Engineers in Action, LaPalma, California
- Third place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
Project Review Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Florida, Gainesville
AIAA Reusable Launch Vehicle Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Florida, Gainesville
- Second place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Third place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
AIAA Rookie Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Colorado Boulder
Safety Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
- Second place: University of Florida, Gainesville
- Third place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Social Media Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Colorado Boulder
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Newark Memorial High School, Newark, California
STEM Engagement Award:
College Level:
- First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
- Second place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Third place: New York University, Brooklyn, New York
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Notre Dame Academy High School, Los Angeles, California
- Second place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Third place: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia
Service Academy Award:
First place: United States Air Force Academy, USAF Academy, Colorado
Vehicle Design Award:
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
- Second place: Explorer Post 1010, Rockville, Maryland
- Third place: Plantation High School, Plantation, Florida
Payload Design Award:
Middle/High School Level:
- First place: Young Engineers in Action, LaPalma, California
- Second place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Third place: Spring Grove Area High School, Spring Grove, Pennsylvania
Student Launch is one of NASA’s nine Artemis Student Challenges, activities which connect student ingenuity with NASA’s work returning to the Moon under Artemis in preparation for human exploration of Mars.
The competition is managed by Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). Additional funding and support are provided by NASA’s OSTEM via the Next Gen STEM project, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space, and Bastion Technologies.
To watch the full virtual awards ceremony, please visit NASA Marshall’s YouTube channel.
For more information about Student Launch, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/stem/studentlaunch/home/index.html
For more information about other NASA challenges, please visit:
https://stem.nasa.gov/artemis/
Taylor Goodwin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
