Watching the positive impact that Spaceport America Cup has on the world is inspiring". The caliber of the students after gaining this experience is invaluable.
"I'm extremely proud of all of the teams who joined us at the 2022 Spaceport America" said Cliff Olmsted, President and Chairperson, Experimental Sounding Rocket Association. "Each team faces their own unique challenges and hurdles to overcome throughout the competition. This year, four local teams participated including UNM, NMSU, New Mexico Tech, and the University of Texas-El Paso with NMSU taking home to Chile Cup for the first time. The first award was won by the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 2019 with New Mexico State University (NMSU) as the only other competitor. The Chile Cup award was created by Spaceport America to help encourage friendly competition between New Mexico and borderland universities. We are particularly excited to see so many of our local institutions getting involved in the competition this year and competing for the Chile Cup." "We have seen many rocketeers return to Spaceport America once they have graduated and joined the aerospace workforce. "The Cup fulfills Spaceport America's mission to promote educational involvement in spaceport activities and training of the workforce to develop the skills needed to enter aerospace careers" said Scott McLaughlin, Executive Director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. Student teams participated in presentations and displays at the Las Cruces Convention Center on June 21, followed by two and a half days of launching at Spaceport America’s vertical launch area. More than 1,300 participants attended the 2022 Spaceport America Cup in Southern New Mexico in June, representing 95 higher education institutes from 16 countries across the globe. The University of Sydney took home the overall winners’ trophy after impressing the judges with their 30,000-foot rocket launch. Spaceport America and the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) have announced the winners of the 2022 Spaceport America Cup sponsored by Sierra Space.