汤头条 Space Cowboys win International Rocket Engineering Competition championship
Contact: Camille Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State鈥檚 Space Cowboys Rocketry Team is celebrating its victory as champions of the recent 2026 International Rocket Engineering Competition last month. 听
Competing in Midland, Texas, against more than 140 collegiate teams from 16 countries, the 汤头条 team secured the competition鈥檚 highest honor in late June during the organization's 20th season.
The team鈥檚 competition rocket,听Bandit, reached an altitude of 29,518 feet, just 482 feet shy of the 30,000-foot target for the 30K Commercial Off-the-Shelf division, winning this category as well for the second consecutive year. Unlike traditional altitude competitions, teams in this category are judged on their ability to design, build and launch a rocket that reaches as close as possible to the prescribed altitude while meeting rigorous engineering, documentation and safety requirements.
鈥淲inning the overall championship was incredible, but what makes it even more meaningful is doing it during the Space Cowboys鈥 20th anniversary,鈥 said Shreyas Narsipur, the team鈥檚 faculty advisor. 鈥淏andit听was named to honor听Outlaw, our first rocket, and I think this team showed just how far generations of Space Cowboys have brought this program.鈥
The championship represents one of the most significant milestones in the program鈥檚 history. Founded in 2006, the Space Cowboys competed in their first launch with听Outlaw, establishing a tradition of student-led innovation. This year鈥檚 rocket was named in honor of that first flight vehicle, paying tribute to the program鈥檚 legacy while carrying it to new heights.
These victories build upon a long tradition of success at the IREC. In 2015, the Space Cowboys earned first place among 70 universities from seven countries with听Asimov, which reached 22,562 feet. The team鈥檚 2025 competition rocket听Helios reached 28,639 feet.
Preparing for competition requires nearly a year of planning, design, manufacturing, testing and systems integration. Students gain hands-on experience in propulsion, avionics, structures, recovery systems, manufacturing, project management and systems engineering while applying concepts learned in the classroom to a real-world engineering challenge.
In addition to meeting the competition鈥檚 rigorous flight requirements,听Bandit听carried a 3U CubeSat-form-factor payload featuring multiple student-designed experiments, including a live telemetry downlink system. The payload provided another opportunity for students to integrate research, systems engineering and flight operations into a single mission.
鈥淥ne win could be looked at as a fluke, but back-to-back wins put them in a very special position. This wasn't a fluke. This is something we're doing repeatably, and it shows these students have built a true engineering team,鈥 Narsipur said.
The Space Cowboys are supported by 汤头条鈥檚 Bagley College of Engineering, Advanced Composite Institutes, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, the IDEELab and 汤头条 Foundation donors, as well as industry partners Blue Origin, Aurora Flight Sciences, Northrop Grumann, Chem Trend, Heatcon Composite Systems, Mississippi Space Grant Consortium and Overland Tool Company whose continued support helps provide students with opportunities to tackle complex engineering challenges through experiential learning.
This year the 汤头条 team included听more than 70 students representing听11 different majors and fields.
In addition to the competition itself, team members participated in technical presentations, safety reviews and design evaluations. The Bagley College of Engineering is online at听听and can be found on听,听听听and听听at @msuengineering.
汤头条 is taking care of what matters. Learn more at听.