Mission

ARA competed in the Spaceport America Cup in the 10k COTs category in 2025, achieving a successful launch and recovery.  The team placed 27th out of 163 teams, ranking our team in the top 20% of teams. The team is excited to see what the future competitions entail!

This project team competes in the prestigious Spaceport America Cup solid propellant rocket competition. The goal of the Spaceport America Cup is to develop a solid, hybrid, or liquid propellant rocket using commercial or custom motors that can a reach a predefined altitude goal of 10,000 or 30,000 feet and innovate a student designed payload system. There a multitude of different paths a team can follow. Spaceport America Cup is a highly sought after competition due to the experience gained and knowledge learned throughout the process of the competition period.

ARA’s Spaceport America Cup Team is officially registered to represent the University of Alabama along with nearly 200 other universities from across the world at the 2025-2026 Spaceport America Cup Launch in New Mexico, where the team hopes to podium and bring back University of Alabama’s first Spaceport America Cup award!