Our Crowdfunding Groups
How You Can Help
The best way to push the limits of aerospace engineering technology is by building and launching rockets as frequently as possible - we move fast and break things. Each year, we challenge ourselves to compete at the Spaceport America Cup, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocketry competition, where we fly the most technologically advanced rocket possible to represent UT in the best way possible to the aerospace engineering industry. Funding will go directly towards building the competition rocket, travel expenses, and competition fees so that we can bring as many students as possible to Spaceport, New Mexico in June. Your donation will directly expose UT students to the best collegiate engineering event in the world.
Who We Are
The Longhorn Rocketry Association is a student-run organization that allows aspiring college students at UT to design and manufacture high-power rockets. We provide students with opportunities to rapidly design and iterate on projects, much like engineering companies in the real world. Our team, consisting of over one hundred undergraduate and graduate students from a wide array of majors, works tirelessly to launch and re-launch machines that push the boundaries of collegiate rocket research.
The Project
The Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition, also known as the Spaceport America Cup, takes place in New Mexico each June. We innovate as intensely as possible to push our capabilities, and this year’s competition rocket is a testament to that idea. Polaris III is the third iteration of our club’s two-stage rocket program and is far and away the most advanced rocket we’ve ever built. We’ll be launching it to 30,000 feet carrying a scientific payload called FAST. Based on NASA-sponsored research currently being conducted by UT, the payload will collect data on deformations that the rocket experiences during flight and will use machine learning to reconstruct the aerodynamic pressure loads over the rocket’s surface.
By demonstrating our students' technical capabilities to Spaceport’s judges and professional sponsors, we represent UT to the aerospace engineering industry and draw public interest towards UT's engineering programs. Several of our members were able to secure internships and jobs at firms like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic by making connections at the competition and showing off their capabilities. Spaceport is the culmination of all our hard work and is an immensely rewarding experience for us.
What You Can Do
Our club’s past successes at Spaceport have motivated us to work as hard as possible to perform better than ever before at this year’s competition. In order to do that, we need your help! We are committed to raising $10,000 to fund materials, housing, transportation, and costs of research and development. A simple donation can go a long way and, and all donations will directly help LRA bring as many members as possible to New Mexico. You can also support us by sharing our message with your friends and family, watching our journey on social media, or swinging by our research labs to see what we’re working on!
In preparation for launch, this contribution will go towards food, housing, and transportation for our team. The Spaceport America Cup is a long drive: from Austin, TX to Spaceport America, NM and any money will help us go to great lengths!
We're in need of more materials for our payload, and any donations will go towards acquiring more and speeding up the build! You will receive a shout-out on our social media platforms!
Competition fees for Spaceport America are high this year, especially the per-member entry fee. This will directly pay for a student’s entry fee. You will get a thank you note from one of our team members!
We have a lot of unique ideas we wish we could look more into and work on. This donation will go to the experimental team for creation and testing of new designs that will be implemented into our Spaceport rocket. You will get a shoutout in our thank you video!
Our past Spaceport America Cup successes year have motivated us to do better this time around! Any gifts will go towards building and testing of our rocket. You will be invited to a launch to see our experimental rockets fly!
Since Polaris III is a two-stage rocket carrying a large scientific payload, it requires a lot of fuel to fly! Your gift will go directly towards motors for the rocket for its Spaceport launch. Your name will be put on our vehicle when it’s flown at Spaceport, and we’ll share it on social media.
