NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will launch a sounding rocket loaded with student‑developed experiments for the agency’s RockSat‑X and RockOn programs on Wednesday, June 24, between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. EDT, with a backup launch window on Thursday, June 25.
The RockSat and RockOn initiatives deliver technical training and hands‑on experience to prepare students for careers in the U.S. aerospace sector. In a first‑ever effort, NASA will merge both missions onto a single sounding rocket, carrying experiments designed by roughly 250 students representing 38 university and community‑college teams.
“We needed to pack as many experiments as possible onto one sounding rocket,” explained Victoria Stoffel, NASA Wallops workforce‑development lead. “The Sounding Rocket Program Office team devised creative solutions to accommodate nearly 50 experiments on a single launch. We’re grateful to the Wallops teams for making this opportunity possible, giving the students the fullest experience.”
RockOn teams collaborate to assemble their experiments on site, gaining hands‑on experience building circuit boards from scratch before launch. The more advanced RockSat teams design and construct their own experiments, undergoing design reviews that mirror those of larger NASA missions. Both groups gain firsthand insight into real NASA mission workflows, from development through launch.
RockSat student experiments span atmospheric monitoring—measuring weather and radiation in Earth’s upper atmosphere—to technology demonstrations including heat shields, space‑debris tracking, and robotic servicing concepts that could support future NASA missions.
The Terrier‑Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket will loft the experiments to roughly 100 miles before descending under parachute into the Atlantic Ocean for recovery. The launch is expected to be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.
The Wallops Visitor Center’s launch viewing area will open at 4:30 a.m. on June 24 for public observation. A livestream will commence about ten minutes prior to launch on the Wallops Flight Facility YouTube channel, and real‑time updates will also be posted on the center’s Facebook page.
For more information about NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program, visit:
By Jamie Adkins
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
