American Rocket Challenge 2025

American Rocketry Challenge (ARC) is an aerospace design and engineering event for teams of US secondary school students (7th through 12th grades) run by the NAR and the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Teams can be sponsored by schools or by nonprofit youth organizations such as Scouts, 4-H, or Civil Air Patrol (but not the NAR or other rocketry organizations).

The goal of ARC is to motivate students to pursue aerospace as an exciting career field, and it is co-sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers, Estes Industries, the Department of Defense, and NASA.

2025 American Rocketry Challenge registration is now open at rocketcontest.org. Teams may register anytime between before and December 1, 2024.

The objective of the 2025 challenge is to design, build, and fly a safe and stable model rocket to an altitude of exactly 790 feet while also achieving a total flight duration of between 41 and 44 seconds and returning a payload of two raw hen's eggs undamaged in a rocket that returns in two sections and recovers by parachute. This is the challenge that is in effect for teams while they are doing locally-observed “qualification flights” to earn an invitation to the National Finals. The rocket’s external structure must use body tubes of two different diameters, each no less than 150 millimeters in length. The upper body tube must must sufficiently hold na egg of up to 60 mm in length sideways and the lower one must be no greater than 57 millimeters in diameter (this is BT- 70 tube). See the official rules for all the details.

LUNAR is honored to support the ARC qualification launches again this year. ARC teams are welcome to participate in the regularly scheduled club launches including those at Brigantino Park. The launch fees are waived for all ARC teams. As the deadline approaches in April, special ARC only launches will be scheduled.

LUNAR has a ARC mailing list for the teams to get on to ask ARC questions of the LUNAR members, to receive ARC announcements from the club, and for the teams to chat among themselves. Go to: http://www.lunar.org/docs/lists/lists.shtml to join the list.

David Raimondi, ARC Launch Coordinator
d.raimondi@sbcglobal.net, 408.997.2571 (h) or 408.742.5173 (w)

 

Central California ARC Team Mentor Volunteers:

Special ARC Launch Schedule

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