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Spaceport America Cup

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Spaceport America Cup 2021

Join us as we host hundreds of the worlds most ambitious collegiate rocketeers in a one of a kind event.

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stage:
2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup Conference Day 3

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Summary

Overview

SPACEPORT AMERICA CUP 2021

Over 1,500 students and faculty will gather in Southern New Mexico for the fourth annual Spaceport America Cup in 2021.  Drawn by the opportunity to collaborate and compete at a world class spaceport facility, you represented the best and brightest from more than 150 institutions located all across the USA and around the world. 

Join us as we host hundreds of the worlds most ambitious collegiate rocketeers in a one of a kind event. Part academic conference and part design-build-fly style competition, the Spaceport America Cup has something to offer students, faculty, industry representatives, and amateur aerospace aficionados alike.

 

The future beckons. 
​How will you answer the call?

Whether you are an academic, an industry representative, a retired professional, or simply a passionate amateur supportive of young minds who seek new horizons... there are many ways you may become a part of an event impacting the future of aerospace...

As a Sponsor...

You could interact with over a thousand talented STEM students from top ranked schools in a professional setting. You will see both them and their hardware perform in real world conditions. Furthermore, you will be helping make possible an event which helps make the best possible candidates for your company! 

As a Volunteer or Judge...

You will join the highly motivated team which brings together the thousands of moving pieces to build the worlds largest collegiate rocket engineering conference and competition. From directing crowds to directing launches and everything in-between, we need your volunteerism at the Spaceport America Cup! 

As a Student... 

You will demonstrate your hard work on an international stage, in front of hundreds of your peers, professors, and prospective employers. You will engage in design-build-fly style rocket and payload engineering competitions in a professional setting, at world class facilities, where the sky is not the limit!


Guidelines

Guidelines for Spaceport America Cup - Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) are hosted on our website! 

In particular, you'll want to review the following documents:

  • IREC Rules and Requirements Document
  • IREC Design, Test, and Evaluation Guide
  • Integrated Master Schedule

www.soundingrocket.org/sa-cup-documents--forms.html

Timeline
Updates43

Challenge Updates

2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup Mission Patch

May 11, 2021, 7:34 a.m. PDT by ESRA Executive Director

With much appreciation and respect to ESRA Legend Matthew Ellengold for his incredible creative talents, we are happy to introduce the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup Mission Patch

 


NASA Astronaut Mike Mullane Joins the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup!

May 2, 2021, 9:44 p.m. PDT by ESRA President

Teams!  ESRA and Spaceport America are super excited to announce that former Astronaut Mike Mullane will be joining the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup as a keynote speaker!

Time is quickly running out to join the competition (deadline is May 14th)!  Visit https://www.accelevents.com/e/2021VirtualSpaceportAmericaCup to purchase tickets.  A reminder that all competing teams must purchase at least 1 team ticket (which includes admission for 10 students for all 3 days).  Additional student tickets can be purchased and also general admission tickets are available for friends and family.  Please consider sharing the link above on social media to get the word out!

If you weren't aware, Mike Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions aboard the Shuttles Discovery (STS-41D) and Atlantis (STS-27 & 36) before retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1990.  Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.  We are very lucky he can join us and we will have a live Q&A session!


Rules Update, Schedule Clarification, and Guest Speaker Wayne Montieth!

April 27, 2021, 11:05 p.m. PDT by ESRA President

All teams,

The deadline to sign up for the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup is getting closer (due date is May 14th!).  Sign up early to reserve your spot so you can focus on preparing!  In addition to the competition, attendees will be able to participate in special sessions with our guest speakers, have access to our sponsors for potential recruiting opportunities, and be able to interact with other participating teams.  https://www.accelevents.com/e/2021VirtualSpaceportAmericaCup

We've received your questions regarding the poster-session video and have updated the description within the IREC Rules and Requirements Document on www.soundingrocket.org.  In addition, we have updated the Integrated Master Schedule to clarify that the poster session video (maximum length is 15:00 minutes) is not due until June 11.

Finally, ESRA and Spaceport America are excited to announce that one of our guest speakers for the event is Wayne Montieth, the FAA Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation! Please submit your questions for Mr. Monteith at our google form here.  He will try to answer all your questions during his presentation at the event!

Wayne Monteith - Guest Speaker at the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup

2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup Tickets are Live!

April 19, 2021, noon PDT by ESRA President

It's time!  Tickets for the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup are live!

ALL TEAMS

Visit https://www.accelevents.com/e/2021VirtualSpaceportAmericaCup to purchase a team ticket.  A reminder from our earlier post, all competing teams must purchase at least 1 team ticket which includes a block of 10 individual tickets valid for all 3 days of the event. Additional team or individual student tickets can be purchased for larger teams.

We appreciate your patience during these pandemic times.  We've been working very hard behind the scenes to make this a great event, even though we'd all prefer to be in the desert flying rockets!  There's a lot more information in this post so read on!

COMPETITION RULES UPDATED

We've updated the competition rules document to clarify the scoring and deliverables for this year.  The biggest change is that the poster session is now scored and requires a maximum 15 minute video presentation created in advance and posted accessible on YouTube.  Each team will have a 15-minute Zoom style Q&A session with ESRA judges in addition to the video.

Go to our website to review the updated rules: https://www.soundingrocket.org/sa-cup-documents--forms.html

COMPETITION INTEGRATED MASTER SCHEDULE UPDATED

We've also updated the competition Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) to reflect the virtual competition.  The only change you may not be aware of is the 3rd Progress Report is no longer needed.  Only the Project Technical Report, Poster Session, Podium Session Abstracts are required.

Go to our website to review the updated IMS: https://www.soundingrocket.org/sa-cup-documents--forms.html

AWARDS!

Don't forget the awards for this year!  They include:

SDL Payload Challenge - https://www.soundingrocket.org/sdl-payload-challenge.html

Kron Video Challenge - https://www.soundingrocket.org/kron-technologies-video-challenge.html

Team Spirit Award

Team Sportsmanship Award

Charles Hoult Award for Modeling and Simulation

Dr. Gil Moore Award for Innovation

Jim Furfaro Award for Technical Excellence

Category First and Second Place Winners

Overall Winner of the 2021 Virtual Spaceport America Cup!

 


Virtual Spaceport America Cup Ticket Pricing and Availability

April 16, 2021, 4:11 p.m. PDT by ESRA President

To all Virtual Spaceport America Cup teams, tickets for the Virtual Cup are going on sale this Monday April 19th!

Pricing information is shown below along with some clarifications/frequently asked questions here.  There will be more detailed instructions this coming week so you can know what and how to prepare for the virtual event (hint, dust off your phone cameras and webcams...have you been practicing making videos TikTok/Twitter/IG/and Facebook over the past year?)

Ticket Pricing and Timing

Clarifications and mini-FAQ:

  1. Who needs to buy tickets? Answer: All competing teams must purchase at least one team ticket ($125).  Each team ticket includes a block of 10 individual student tickets.  Additional student tickets can be purchased for $15 each or additional team tickets can be purchased as needed.  The ticket price covers all 3 days of the Cup.
  2. Can non-students buy tickets too?  Answer: Yes!  Non-students (e.g. friends and family and general public) can purchase tickets for $30 which covers all 3 days of the event.
  3. What is the agenda and specific rules for the virtual competition?  Answer: We've been very busy behind the scenes lining up some fantastic keynote speakers and technical forum topics.  The agenda will be available when tickets go on sale this Monday. Also, we have also updated the competition rules document to provide further details on points and awards for this year's event. We will post the updated rules within the next week.
  4. Will we be able to interact with fellow teams, sponsors, vendors, Spaceport America, and ESRA?  Answer: YES! We've quite excited by the capability of our virtual hosting company.  There will be many opportunities for interaction during specific events as well as during downtime between events.

Looking forward to seeing you show off your designs, analysis, testing, and overview of your rockets!


Forum157
Teams2K
Resources
FAQ