CU Sounding Rocket Laboratory

9News Denver reached out to us at SRL to comment on successful flight of the first civilian spaceflight from commercial spaceflight company, Virgin Galactic. 9News reached out to SRL to gain some additional perspective on what this flight meant to young students poised to be the future of the aerospace field.

“More than just getting into space, it’s getting a 100% student-designed, built, and flown rocket to space”

Elliott McKee

Check out the video to the right, or click here to read more details about the story.

An article published March 18, 2021, on the CU Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Sciences News page features inspiring quotes from team members and mentors alike on how their experience with the Sounding Rocket Lab (SRL) has impacted them and their engineering careers.

“SRL has provided hands-on experience and heightened my passion for my majors where the required courses seem to fall a little short. It has given me experience in design, analysis, manufacturing, testing, and more- all important things engineers should be capable of, and experienced in especially as we move to industry.“

Samantha Honan

Click here to read more about SRL’s mission and what its team members have to say.

An image of several Sounding Rocket Lab (SRL) team members at a Fall 2019 certification launch was featured in CU Boulder’s alumni magazine, The Coloradan, as their “Photo of the Week,” on March 4, 2021.

The photo depicts four SRL team members with rockets that, if successfully launched and recovered, will earn them a Level One certification with the Tripoli Rocketry Association, one of the two eminent amateur rocketry organizations in the United States (the other being the National Association of Rocketry).

In order to earn this certification, individuals must design, simulate, and construct their own vehicles. These vehicles are required to fly on a small solid rocket motor with a total impulse between 160 and 640 N-s, or an H or I class motor. SRL prioritizes certifying members to build an understanding of fundamental rocketry principles and encourage members to earn higher-level certifications.

During the 2019-20 school year, over 30 SRL members earned their TRA Level One certification. To learn more about the TRA certification process, click here.

Note: This photograph was taken in September 2019, prior to the COVID-19 crisis.