Ignite student engagement and inspire learning through real-world problem solving ‐ and launching an actual rocket at the end of the project!
Model rocketry allows our future scientists, designers, and engineers to explore their talents and work hands-on to understand and control technology (ICT), math, science, engineering, and design & technology through hands-on experience and demonstration.
With SpaceCAD, you can help your students understand the things that affect a rocket in flight and how to achieve the best performance and safety.
Design and test model rockets, collect and analyze data, and more. Tap into students' innate desire to explore, investigate, and learn.
Design rockets on the PC, build them for real, and get outdoors for real rocket launches and safe recoveries!
Investigate the basic principles of rocketry
like aerodynamics and forces of flight
(lift, drag, thrust, and gravity).
Students can learn hands-on about material properties (density, volume) and understand the difference between distance, velocity and acceleration.
Students can easily grasp concepts like impulse, numeric precision, momentum, efficiency, kinetic and potential energy and much more.
“One of my students who has extremely low self-esteem, tried your software for the first time yesterday, and took to it like a duck to water. She was the first one to finish a complete, original design that was stable and launched perfectly. It really made her day! Thanks for such awesome software!”– Christopher Hoppner (Locust Valley CSD)
The American Rocketry Challenge (formerly Team America Rocketry Challenge) TARC is an extra- curricular hands-on project-based learning program. It is modeled around the aerospace industry's design, fabrication and testing processes. All students participate in a team of 3-10 students to design, build, and fly a rocket.
Like aerospace companies work within specific design parameters, every year the challenge requires teams to achieve the same basic mission-oriented goals of hitting a precise altitude, landing within a specific flight time window, and returning a raw egg (“the astronaut”) without cracking. SpaceCAD is proud to be official software for this event.
The United Kingdom Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKRoC) is the
largest model rocket showcase in the UK. It provides secondary school student teams (3 to 5
members), aged 11-18yrs a realistic experience in designing a flying aerospace
vehicle that meets a specified set of mission and performance requirements.
Students have to work together in teams, just as aerospace engineers do. It is not intended to be easy, but it is well within the capabilities of secondary school students with a good background in science and maths, and some craftsmanship skills. The key goal of UKRoC is to “Encourage school children to enter the world of aerospace and science”. SpaceCAD is proud to be official software for this event.
– Dave Procter“When I started using SpaceCAD, it was not to design and scratch build as I generally teach the subject to Year 6 (10 year old) children with a fairly limited timescale. What I use SpaceCAD for was to give the children an understanding of the things that affect a rocket in flight and how to achieve the best performance and safety from a design.
The flight calculations and visual representations that SpaceCAD produce are perfect for this. I like to restrict their initial designs to a single motor type and watch their competitive nature improve the designs to achieve maximum altitude and compare with their friends! When they are more at home with the software (doesn't take long) I let their creativity run free. The next phase of the project is for teams to build a kit rocket and fly them in front of the whole school on a nice day! The project is always a winner!
I would have no hesitation in recommending SpaceCAD to friends and colleagues in fact over my time working in schools I can think of 4 schools that have run similar projects using SpaceCAD following my recommendation.