Students from Virginia State University have been invited to participate in the 2023-2024 NASA Student Launch Challenge for the first time in the school’s history.

According to a news release from the university, the Trojan Takeoff Team will go up against 48 teams from universities across the nation in what is considered to be one of the most prestigious rocketry competitions. At the event which will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, in April 2024,  “teams will design and “launch a high-powered rocket to an altitude of 4,000 to 5,000 feet.”

Dr. Christopher Washington, associate professor of Computer Engineering and team advisor, shared his excitement about the Trojan Takeoff Team being selected

“The NASA Student Launch Competition is a nationwide competition among colleges and universities, and NASA only selects the best for this type of competition,” Washington said. “Additionally, a rocket launch competition is a new area for our students. The “Trojan Takeoff Team” selection for the NASA Student Launch Competition is a significant feather in the cap of the College of Engineering and Technology.”

MaKhaila Bentil who is one of the members of the 31-member Trojan Takeoff Team and the student leader for the university’s NASA H2O program, said that the program is open to all students interested in rocketry not just engineering and computer science majors.

“The idea of creating the Trojan Takeoff Team was to provide students with a hands-on opportunity to really apply themselves and the information and concepts they were being taught in the classroom,” Benti said. “So, I thought, ‘Why not build a rocket launch team?’ There are tons of other reputable engineering institutions that participate, and I didn’t see why VSU couldn’t be one of them. We have amazing students and faculty who deserve to be recognized.”

Proving that the team has some of the brightest minds in the country, the Trojan Takeoff takeoff team has already built a 3D model of their rocket which they plan to have completed in time for the NASA competition. Additionally,  a member of the National Association of Rocketry will train the team in rocket launching at VSU’s Randolph Farm, beginning on Saturday, November 4 at 11 a.m. For every team member, this will be their first exposure to rocket launching and will mark an important milestone of how far they have come.

“I’m tremendously proud of everything we’ve accomplished so far,” Bentil said. “The progress we’ve made has been outstanding, and our goal is to represent VSU to the best of our ability next April and hopefully inspire more Trojans to test the boundaries in the world of engineering. The sky is the limit.”

In addition to the competition, VSU is one of NASA’s University Partners and a member of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium which is made up of 52 state-based, institutions in each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. that receives funding “to develop and implement student fellowships and scholarship programs; interdisciplinary space-related research infrastructure, education, and public service programs; and cooperative initiatives with industry, research laboratories, and state, local, and other governments.”