From the white board to the launch pad, we strive to push the boundaries of what is possible, making rocketry accessible to students regardless of major or background experience. As one of the founding members of an emerging UC-Wide High Power Rocketry Leadership Council, Rockets Academy represents the unique talent of its members on the collegiate stage.

WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF

Our Mission

Space is the place to be. When USC reached space, they became the first colligate based rocketry team to ever pass the internationally recognized altitude where space begins, the Kamran line located at 330,000ft, inspiring countless universities and students that anything is possible. As UC Merced grows, PDR has a unique opportunity to do what most teams can’t, which is to do new things. To innovate where established teams can’t, and set a new standard for what it means to be a UC Based rocketry team. As such, the focus of PDR will be to provide members with unique technical, professional, and networking opportunities to set them up for a successful career.

Mach 1.1

20 11,685ft

Successful Launches Since 2024

Team Altitude Record

Fastest Flight

"Level Up"

As PDR transitions into a team focused on creating strong endeavors through research and development, it is important to dedicate aspects of the project to providing newer, potentially inexperienced members, a chance to explore their interests. As such, members within the PDR Project are given the opportunity to obtain 1 or more certifications in High Power Rocketry. Starting with Level 1, members learn the basics of rocketry and demonstrate their understanding by assembling and launching a rocket kit. With each level (1-3), the rockets become more technically complex and abstract. Ultimately, members will get to design, build, and launch their own rockets.

Level	Motor Class	Total Impulse (N·s)
1	H - I	160.01 – 640
2	J - L	640.01 - 5,120
3	M - T	5,120.01 - 295,000

The Launch Experience

Level 1 Certification Flight

Level 2 Certification Flight

Level 3 Shakedown Flight

Photo by Doug Wade

Competition

In 2024, PDR made history by competing in the Argonia Cup, a multi-stage rocketry competition, successfully showcasing their ability to develop large-scale rockets with a clear mission. This was a milestone for UC Merced, as it marked the university's first attempt at launching a multi-stage rocket and its inaugural participation in a rocketry competition. Building on this experience, PDR aims to compete in the 2025 Spaceport America Cup, entering the 10K Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) challenge. The PDR competition team will work in specialized sub-teams to design, construct, and launch the vehicle for this competition.

Sub-Teams:

Launch Vehicle Design/Recovery & Integration Team

The launch vehicle design team will coordinate with the other team leads to design a launch vehicle that’ll meet both the budgetary and competition rule constrains, ensuring that the vehicle design is within the realistic capabilities of the manufacturing team. The recovery team will be in charge of developing all designs and of the recovery system for the mission of the team. Should it be an unproven technology, the recovery team will need to present a detailed proposal of why the system is needed from both a technical and growth standpoint. Following approval, they will work with design, manufacturing, and avionics, to bring the system to fruition.

Avionics Team
The Avionics team will coordinate with the payload and design team to design an avionics system with flight code that meet both the budgetary and competition rule constrains and research any new system if needed.

Launch Vehicle Manufacturing

The launch manufacturing team will coordinate with the other team leads, to manufacture the launch vehicles as specified by the design team. They will be expected to develop any new SOPs with the PM as needed for the vehicle design, ensuring that the rocket is manufactured safely.

Payload Team
This team will develop a payload within the budgetary requirements of the rockets team while meeting the dimensional constraints of launch vehicle design, electrical constraints as specified by avionics, and mass requirements as established by the design and recovery team.

Media

JOIN THE TEAM

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