MIDLAND, TX — The 2025 International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) officially concluded after a week of hands-on engineering, high-powered launches, and global collaboration. Hosted by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) at the Midland Space Port Rocket Launch Area, this year’s event brought together collegiate rocketry teams from around the world for the largest competition of its kind.

More than 143 student teams and universities from 22 countries gathered in Midland, Texas from June 9–14 to launch rockets they designed, built, and tested over the past year. The competition featured launch categories at 10,000, 30,000, and 45,000 feet, with teams evaluated on altitude, engineering design, safety, and mission objectives.

Throughout the week, teams faced challenges including high desert winds, hardware setbacks, and long hours in the field—mirroring many of the constraints of real-world launch operations. Managing a launch gave many students direct experience with teamwork, technical execution, and in-the-moment problem solving.

“Hands-on experiences like IREC are key to developing the next generation of engineers and scientists,” ESRA President Steve Taylor said. “What these students accomplish is remarkable, and every year they raise the bar even higher.”

The competition concluded with the awards ceremony, where teams were recognized across multiple categories. Taking home the coveted New Horizons Trophy as the overall winner of the event was The University of Sydney, Australia  for excellence in design, execution, and team performance.

IREC 2025 was made possible through the support of hundreds of volunteers, mentors, and sponsors. ESRA extends its appreciation to all those who contributed to organizing and supporting this educational event.

Read the full list of categories and winners below, and learn more about the IREC and ESRA at www.soundingrocket.org.

Update as of June 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM

All teams are welcome tomorrow. Gates open at 5am. Teams who have flown on previous days should do there best to allow other teams who have not flown to have a spot under the big tents.  

Also, our medical team has asked us to remind everyone that water + electrolytes are critical to avoiding heat related injuries. Please be prepared.

Friday is your last full day to fly.  Saturday is a very short half day.  Teams are warned that waiting until Saturday to launch is a very, very bad idea. We cannot promise or guarantee your rocket will be able to launch on Saturday due to the overwhelming demand.  You should Launch on Friday to avoid heartache and frustration. Show up early, and be highly prepared to launch before noon at the latest.

Be safe and see everyone on Friday!

Update as of June 12, 2025 at 8:00 AM

Good morning Rocketeers!

ESRA continues to operate under a "safety protocol" for launch operations, only teams who have been invited or teams who are able to provide an acceptable form of shelter are able to enter the launch site. Please see HeroX for specific details. Teams that have already launched and are interested in attending to assist other teams or as spectators are allowed to enter the launch site at their own risk. Spectators and sponsors are welcome, however you must have registered online to be admitted to the site!

Update as of June 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Good evening Rocketeers! ESRA continues to operate under a limited team "invite only" attendance, with the exception of teams who have already launched and are interested in attending to assist other teams or as spectators. 

Teams who are not on the list ARE NOT permitted to access the site for any reason that involves their rocket, this includes ejection testing and flight safety reviews in preparation for launching on Friday. We continue to have limited shade available and with the high expected temperatures we do not wish to put your team at risk.

Teams continue to be selected based on their "ready to launch" status. Selected teams should plan appropriately to be at the gate at the designated time.  The 2nd salvo will be announced with a "target" time window which will need to be flexible due to changing launch conditions.  Teams who are not selected will not be allowed to enter the launch area. Please check HeroX for your teams status.

As you may have noticed as you watched today's live stream, today was a challenging day with the benefit of excellent weather. Tomorrow is expected to BE MUCH HOTTER SO PREPARE!!! EMS is recommending that students have 3-4 Liquid IV powder packets per day to keep dehydration under control.

The ESRA team was able to successfully launch over 30 teams.
​
The hard work of the tent supplier has restored 4 student team tents which is 50% of what we had so tent space will be a premium for the remainder of the week.  A majority of the debris has been cleared but some broken tents are still there.  DO NOT GO NEAR THEM.

Before you arrive for your Final Flight Check, complete the following:

1. Bring your Rocket (Ready to Fly)
2. Bring your Double-headed Igniter (NOT inserted into the motor but taped to the side)
3. Bring your Flight Card
4. Alert your Flyer of Record that your team is ready to fly.

Rules for Thursday:

• Only invited teams are allowed to enter the launch site.  Similar to today, there will be a morning group and then an afternoon group.  Gate will open at 5:00am for the morning group.  Be prepared to launch ASAP. The afternoon group will be announced 3hrs before you need to be onsite, so please be prepared to depart.
• If your team has already flown (on Wednesday), you should not be set up under a tent. The limited tent space is reserved for teams who still need to Fly.
• Once you complete your flight tomorrow, please vacate your tent space to allow other unflown teams to prepare.  If you have a canopy, you can certainly bring it.
• There is no 45k high altitude waiver tomorrow. 10k and 30k flights are approved.
• Flight Safety Reviews will be available at 7am
• Final Flight Reviews will be available at 5am
• Ejection charge testing will be available at 8am
• If your team IS NOT READY TO FLY tomorrow, send an email to [email protected] 

​Morning Group A (Gate opens at 5am):
101 Arizona State University
102 Atilim University
104 Austin Community College
108 Boise State University
111 Clarkson University
115 Eastern Washington University
116 Edmonds College
117 Ege University
120 Florida International University
122 George Fox University
123 Illinois Institute of Technology
124 Military Institute of Engineering
126 ITBA130 İstanbul University - Cerrahpaşa
133 Lenoir-Rhyne University
134 Liberty University
137 Michigan Technological University
138 Middle East Technical University
140 New York University Abu Dhabi
142 Pamukkale Universty
143 Queen's University
145 Rowan University
146 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
147 San Jose State University
148 Sapienza University of Rome
149 Selcuk University
156 The University of Arizona
163 Facultad Politécnica - Universidad Nacional de Asunción
169 University of California, Merced
174 University of Kentucky
175 University of Louisiana at Lafayette
178 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
180 University of New Mexico
182 University of Pennsylvania
187 Utah State University
193 Wichita State University
194 Worcester Polytechnic Institute
200 Ateneo de Davao University
201 Brigham Young University
204 Chulalongkorn University
209 POLITEHNICA Bucharest
211 New Mexico State University
212 Politecnico di Torino
213 Princeton University
214 Texas A&M University
216 The University of Melbourne
217 The University of Texas at Austin
219 University of Alberta
220 University of British Columbia
221 University of Houston
309 Purdue University
311 Saint Louis University
315 University of Pittsburgh
316 University of São Paulo
317 The University of Texas at Dallas
400 Duke University
407 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
501 Toronto Metropolitan University
502 Université Laval
901 Polytechnique Montréal

Good luck Rocketeers!

~ The dedicated ESRA Volunteers

Update as of June 11, 2025 at 12:30 AM

ESRA is working on a plan which could allow us to operate under a limited team "invite only" attendance. No spectators...   Very limited services and no shade or tents available. Our focus is on rapid, simple and ready to launch teams.  The next announcement will provide critical information for  teams selected to proceed to the launch site.  If your team number is listed in the 1st salvo, you should plan appropriately to be at the gate at the designated time.   The 2nd salvo will be announced with a "target" time window which will need to be flexible due to changing launch conditions.  Teams who are not selected will not be allowed to enter the launch area.

In parallel, the tent company is gathering all of their resources to work on restoring limited tent space for Thursday and further into the week. 

This is a very bad situation but ESRA volunteers are doing their absolute best to restore limited launch operations while maintaining safe protocols.

​~ ESRA

​Assist us in operating the world's largest international rocket engineering competition, the 2025 ESRA IREC. With over 150 teams competing from 22 countries, this competition attracts over 2,000 student competitors to West Texas.

Volunteer information can be found here.

Hello Rocketeers,

Thank you all for your patience while we prepared Pre-Registration. Pre-Registration is a little different this year, it will be completed on an individual basis using a Microsoft Form. The same form will be used for all types of attendees, Students, Advisors, Flyers of Record, Mentors, Volunteers, Spectators, Sponsors, Vendors, and Press alike. There will be some questions that are specific to your category (i.e., student). 

Remember that ALL attendees must obtain a Tripoli membership for insurance purposes. The Liability Waiver is now apart of the form, so once you digitally sign and accept the terms in the form your waiver will be complete. 

I have linked a tutorial to explain, as well as a document that lays out the information that we will be collecting, and the link to the form itself. You will have until April 28th to complete pre-registration, but remember that the earlier your entire team completes Pre-Registration the better time-slot you will get! This information is critical for many aspects of our operation, the earlier we get it the better, so please submit as soon as possible. 

Pre-Registration Instructions 2025
Pre-Registration Tutorial
Pre-Registration Form

Thank you for your time,
Sierra Stockwell
Registration Coordinator
Uprange Operations Manager
[email protected]

​ESRA is proud to announce the selection of the 2025 ESRA IREC Mission Patch! This amazing patch was selected out of a pool of over a dozen design submissions. Congrats to Emre Kilic
with the TOBB ETU Rocketry team! A $250 prize will be sent to Emre for such amazing work!