By Mike Romero
What does it take to compete in the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering competition? A new documentary from the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering answers that question. Shot by BYU students and filmmakers Sawyer Nunley and Heber Stanton, it tells the story of BYU’s High-Power Rocketry Team as their rocket, Maverick, prepares for launch at the 2022 Spaceport America Cup.
Maverick was built with an Aerotech M2400 motor and a machine-learning module to prevent water from sloshing within the rocket’s payload. Despite mechanical difficulties ahead of launch, the rocket reached a height of 10,432 feet, earning the BYU team a rank of 11th out of 46 teams in their category at the 2022 Spaceport competition. The team also received 2nd place for the Barrowman Award for Flight Dynamics and 2nd place for the Sportsmanship Award.
The BYU rocketry team returned to take 1st place in the 2023 Spaceport America Cup with their rocket, Solitude (named for the Utah-based ski resort). They also received 1st place for Modeling and Simulation. BYU beat out 157 other collegiate teams from 24 countries for the title.
Check out the documentary below.
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