UC Irvine Giving Day

Who We Are

The UC Irvine Rocket Project Solids is an undergraduate student engineering project founded in 2022 that is focused on designing and building solid propellant rockets. We are a small but dedicated team of 30 students working hard throughout the year to prepare our newest rocket for the upcoming International Rocketry Engineering Competition (IREC) in 2026. At IREC 2025, our rocket “Azula” won us first place in our category, as well as a first-place finish for our outstanding team video! 

Our mission is to push the boundaries of what student rocketry can accomplish. We give undergraduate engineers the opportunity to design, manufacture and launch high-powered solid rockets. Our rockets are researched, designed and tested entirely by us. And by doing so, we’re not just developing technical skills, but producing engineers that are capable of leading teams, solving real-world problems and building systems that can fly.


Progress Report

After our fall 2025 ZotFunder closed, the UC Irvine Rocket Project Solids team has been hard at work. We finished our design requirements for our competition rocket, Lightfury, and recently launched our test rocket, Nightfury. Nightfury is our launch vehicle intended to test our avionics and recovery systems. Here's some footage of Nightfury being launched in the Mojave Desert! 


As we approach the International Rocketry Engineering Competition, held in Texas during the summer, we have a critical need to raise $5,000 to attend the competition. This amount would cover registration fees, lodging, and transportation costs for our entire team. We believe every member should have the opportunity to see all the hard work they put in over the past year pay off as Lightfury launches into the sky. 

Your Support So Far

Funds already raised have been used to purchase everything from electronics to hardware for our rocket! Here's a quick breakdown of how your gifts have furthered the development of Lightfury:

Avionics – We have spent around $400 so far on critical avionics components like a GPS module that’ll connect to our ground station, letting us know where our rocket is so we can recover it after launch!

Propulsion – Our propulsion team has been hard at work, and with your funds, we have started to cast our APCP grains based on our own custom formula, kind of like chemistry for rocketry. We've spent around $1,000 on necessary supplies like the chemicals needed, mixing equipment and phenolic liners to ensure our rocket doesn’t melt itself from the inside out.

Payload – After all, what’s the point of launching something if it doesn’t carry anything? Our payload this year is a rover that will be deployed after landing, rolling around and gathering data about its surroundings. We’ve spent $500 on the motors for the rover, as well as aluminum plates that make up the structure of the payload itself.

With immense gratitude, thank you for lifting our spirits and helping us take off. We are proud to have built this community with you and hope you will consider supporting us again this Giving Day. Your gifts have an everlasting impact on our journey and our team. Thank you!