The SEDS Launch is a new and exciting addition to the AeroPAC launch season. 

The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-USA), in a joint-venture with the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and the Tripoli Rocketry Association sought TRA prefectures to host Regional Rocketry Competitions.  AeroPAC jumped at the chance to help out and scheduled the SEDS Launch as a fourth launch each year. 
 

All fliers are welcome to come to the launch but, as with the ARLISS launch, priority will be given to Student Launch teams.

Background Information
 

Each year, the Spaceport America Cup had to turn away more than 50 university rocketry teams due to unavailable competition slots. These teams have a very limited number of options to safely compete and launch their rocketry projects. Many of these teams also struggle to fund the expense of traveling across the country for a week to attend the Cup.

SEDS decided to create a new series of regional rocketry competitions that will fill this need and provide winners with automatic bids to attend the following year’s Spaceport America Cup.

Competition Requirements
 

These regional rocketry competitions will be based on the Spaceport America Cup’s Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Solid Propulsion 10K event with some scaled down requirements.

• The student teams will be required to build, test, launch and recover a rocket with a 1-kg payload to ten thousand feet on a commercially available L motor or smaller.
• The Tripoli Safety Code will be followed.
• One of the students (or a designated and certified mentor) must be at minimum a TRA Level 2 certified flyer and will be the flier of record for the project.
• All team members who work on the rocket’s energetics or travel with the rocket to the pads must be a Tripoli member.

AeroPAC Partner Duties
 

AeroPAC will only be required to provide typical Range Safety and Launch Operations for the student teams.
 

SEDS Partner Duties

SEDS USA volunteers will be onsite to run the competition activities such as coordinating and communicating with the student teams, judging the design reports, gathering post flight data and finally the awards ceremony.