USU Rocket Team Competes at 2025 IREC
USU Rocket Team competes in the International Rocket Engineering Competition at Spaceport Midland, Texas, in June 2025
On June 14, 2025, the USU team successfully launched Sky Streaker, their final competition rocket, at the Spaceport America Cup in Midland, Texas. The 11-ft tall, 6-inch diameter, 65-lb rocket soared to 9,458 ft, just shy of the 10,000-ft target due to a slight launch angle deviation. The mission was an incredible success and a testament to the team’s engineering and dedication.
One of the most exciting achievements for this year’s team of 12 students was the live video and telemetry system, which streamed real-time data and visuals throughout the entire flight. While many teams struggled to maintain connection due to the long range to the pad, the USU team’s system stood out as one of the few to deliver uninterrupted live feeds.
Another major success for the team was their Altitude Control System (ACS). Using real-time trajectory data, the ACS correctly determined that our projected altitude would remain under the target and intelligently chose not to deploy the air brakes. While it would have been astonishing to see the airbrakes during the flight, the choice of the airbrakes not to deploy demonstrated the robustness of the system’s closed loop control algorithm.
Sky Streaker turned heads long before it left the ground. At the conference, teams and industry professionals were captivated by the USU team’s telemetry setup, autonomous rover, ACS, and especially the incredible paint job. There was never a moment during the two-day conference when the team didn't have people at their table asking about Sky Streaker.
Utah State University placed 19th in the 10k category and 30th overall out of more than 150 teams from around the world. This is an especially rewarding finish for a student-led team that designed and built nearly every component in-house. One of the most remarkable aspects of the competition was that, rather than the cutthroat atmosphere you might expect at such a large event, there was a strong sense of community—teams were eager to help one another and celebrate each other’s success.
To view the live rocket launch, the YouTube stream is time stamped here:
https://youtu.be/3G0n4SnmLRg?t=6856
USU Rocket Team prepares Sky Streaker for launch at Spaceport America Cup in Midland, Texas
USU Rocket Team prepares Sky Streaker for launch at Spaceport America Cup in Midland, Texas
2025 International Rocket Engineering Competition participants in June 9-14, 2025, Spaceport America Cup held in Midland, Texas
