History
Season by season
The documented story of rocketry at UCLA: the teams, the rockets, and the results.
2026–27
Team
Emmanuel Jaimes (Project Manager); Bianca Vasquez (Project Manager); Noah Hernandez (Vice Project Manager); Alexander Astorga (Aerodynamics Director); Joel Venegas (Structures & Recovery Director); Azad Aghdam (Aerodynamics Lead); Jonathan Mendez Aguilar (Structures Lead); Brian Sierra (Structures Lead); Daniel Montano (Structures Lead); Jonathan Nguyen (Recovery Lead); Natalie Lopez (Payload Director); Brandon Aguilar (Payload Lead); Alan Alfaro (Payload Lead); Juan Ventura-Romero (Payload Software Lead); Nicholas Equihua (Payload Electronics Lead); Angel Iglesias (Avionics Lead)
2025–26
Team
Isrrael Sumano (Project Manager); Emmanuel Jaimes (Project Manager); Emmanuel Jaimes (Structures and Manufacturing Director); Josephine Rivera-Hoagland (Public Relations Officer); Noah Tran (Structures and Recovery); Azad Aghdam (Structures and Recovery); Joel Venegas (Structures and Recovery); Eirvin Rubio (Avionics); Dereck Rubio (Avionics); Wyatt Brown (Avionics); Kenneth Fambro (Payload Lead); Michael Sicner (Challenge); Natalie Lopez (Challenge); Dario Kuroda (Challenge); Ronaldo Garcia (Manufacturing Lead); Moises Sosa (Manufacturing Lead); Daniel Montano (Manufacturing Lead); Brian Sierra (Manufacturing Lead); Israel Alejos (Manufacturing Lead); Noah Hernandez (Safety Lead); Lyzet Leyva (Safety Lead)
2024–25
Results
- 3rd, Mars Challenge oral reports — First Nations LaunchReport award Source: Mars Challenge oral reports
- 3rd, Mars Challenge written reports — First Nations LaunchReport award Source: Mars Challenge written reports
2023–24
Results
- 2nd, Mars Challenge — First Nations Launch Source: Mars Challenge
- 2nd, Mars Challenge oral report — First Nations LaunchReport award Source: Mars Challenge oral report
- 2nd, Mars Challenge written report — First Nations LaunchReport award Source: Mars Challenge written report
2018–19
"UCLA Bearospace" proposes its First Nations Launch rocket
The earliest public document using the Bearospace name: an 11-member team proposes a carbon-fiber rocket with a 3D-printed nose cone. Source
First place, AISES Launch
Bearospace wins First Nations Launch's AISES Launch category at Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Kansasville, Wisconsin. Source
The rocket: First Nations Launch rocket
The rocket that won first place in the AISES Launch category at First Nations Launch 2019.
- Fly a competition-supplied motor to an apogee between 3,500 and 5,000 feet above ground level, and recover the rocket safely.
- Competition-supplied 54 mm AeroTech J450 DM motor
- Apogee window: 3,500–5,000 ft AGL
- About 65 in long and 3.9 in in diameter (proposal)
- Carbon-fiber body tube
- 3D-printed nose cone
- RRC3 altimeter
- Arduino Uno with an MPU6050 motion sensor
Read more: Competition proposal (Nov 30, 2018) · UCLA MAE news (Jun 5, 2019)
Results
- 1st, AISES Launch — First Nations Launch Source: AISES Launch
No public record has been found yet for 2019–20 through 2022–23. Have photos or stories from those seasons? Tell us.