JULY 20, 2021 — Billionaires are making news with their competition to open space travel to private citizens. The race for space is in full throttle for private companies, world governments and even college students. Months of hard work were realized in a couple of minutes when UTSA’s Aeronautics and Rocket Club (ARC) took part in the recent 2021 Spaceport America Cup.
The Spaceport Cup is the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering competition. The event is typically held every June in New Mexico. The Spaceport experience is valuable to helping students prepare for aspirations in the aerospace industry. Due to the pandemic, Spaceport held launch competitions at regional sites. The UTSA team, comprised from a mix of engineering students, transported their 12-foot two-stage rocket, named Acme Co., just outside of Houston, for the Texas area blast-off. Acme Co. is a nod to the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon series where the coyote used an Acme Co. rocket to try and catch the Road Runner.