Spaceport America Cup rocket competition opens in Las Cruces

Algernon D'Ammassa | Las Cruces Sun-News

Show Caption Hide Caption NMSU team member talks about Spaceport America Cup Philip Lane with the NMSU Atomic Aggies, discusses the team's first year at the Spaceport America Cup Rocket Competition.

LAS CRUCES - The second annual Spaceport America Cup got underway Tuesday at the Las Cruces Convention Center, with university students from 10 countries displaying the rockets that will be launched and recovered at the spaceport Thursday through Saturday.

The annual intercollegiate competition began in Green River, Utah, in 2006 under the management of the nonprofit Experimental Sounding Rocket Association. Last year, after several years of rapid growth, the event moved to Spaceport America and was rebranded as the Spaceport America Cup.

Opening ceremonies commenced Tuesday morning at the Las Cruces Convention Center, where the exhibit hall was packed with university teams displaying the rockets they would be launching and recovering at Spaceport America later in the week.

Spaceport CEO Dan Hicks said at a news conference that 133 teams had registered and 124 were competing, with 1,500 participants expected.

University space race

ESRA President Matthew Ellengold said universities were vying to be the first to achieve a rocket altitude beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, but said being first is not as important as understanding rocket systems and how to analyze and learn from failures.

Hicks said that the spaceport’s access to higher airspace near the White Sands Missile Range and enhanced safety features made it an ideal host for university programs working to achieve higher rocket altitudes.

New Mexico State University sent its first team to compete this year. Project manager Philip Lane said the Atomic Aggies are mostly students new to rocketry, but their 13-foot, 81-pound rocket had reached 12,000 feet at a test launch last month. “Our goal this year is just to get on the scoreboard,” he said.

The exhibition hall was packed with tables presenting visual exhibits detailing the rockets’ specifications, materials and payloads, as judges from ESRA roamed through the aisles.

Traffic was jammed at times between some aisles presenting the occasional hazard of jostling tables where delicate parts rested. At one point, a sound horrifying to any rocketeer — the crack of a rocket fin — caused several teams to turn with sympathy toward the team from Brazil’s Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica as they recovered the damaged part.

Outside the exhibition hall, the concourse bustled with display tables where aerospace industry representatives introduced themselves to students, sponsors distributed free souvenirs, and some branded apparel was available for sale — notably, an ample supply of sunhats.

Spectators invited

Tickets for one- or three-day passes to the spaceport are available for purchase through the event website, www.SpaceportAmericaCup.com.

Adults and children will be allowed to tote lawn chairs, blankets, and shade structures that do not obstruct others’ view to a designated viewing area as rocket launches take place between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Awards for the seven-category competition will be presented at the Las Cruces Convention Center Saturday evening.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonActor on Twitter.

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