Student teams from across the U.S. launched their high-powered rockets near Huntsville on Friday at the 2026 NASA Student Launch Challenge.
The 30 teams participating at Bragg Farms in Toney included middle school, high school and college students. They spent nine months designing, building and testing their rockets.
NASA Student Launch is an engineering design challenge that gives students and teachers hands-on experience working through a real NASA mission, rather than just classroom lessons.
Close
A student-designed rocket takes off from its launcher.
Against the blue sky, a rocket ascends. Some climbed an estimated 4,000 feet.
Members of the student launch teams look skyward.
Pointing up, a student follows a rocket’s flight.
A rocket parachutes to a soft landing in the red dirt at Bragg Farms in Toney.
A student-designed rocket takes off from its launcher.
Against the blue sky, a rocket ascends. Some climbed an estimated 4,000 feet.
Members of the student launch teams look skyward.
Pointing up, a student follows a rocket’s flight.
A rocket parachutes to a soft landing in the red dirt at Bragg Farms in Toney.