Competition

Ask any team member and they will explain that we have the hottest competition of any uOttawa Team! We compete against teams from around the world at Spaceport America Cup in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

During competition week, teams launch student designed and developed rockets to carry an 8.8lb scientific payload to 10,000 ft. Our competitive advantage is an automated air braking system which is fully controlled by our onboard flight computer to increase our drag and slow us down as we approach altitude. In addition to the flight component, we participate in a poster session to showcase the technical challenges we overcame.

In 2019, uORocketry competed in the 10,000ft target apogee (highest point in the trajectory of the rocket) in the commercial off the shelf (COTS) motor category. Before successfully launching and recovering our rocket, we were one out of 24 teams selected to give a technical presentation on our unique model for predictive control of our rocket’s custom airbrake. This past competition we placed 4th in our category and earned 8th place overall!