FalconLaunch is the name of a small sounding rocket

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

 development program at the United States Air Force Academy

United States Air Force Academy

The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...

. The program falls beneath the purview of the Academy Department of Astronautics

Astronautics

Astronautics, and related astronautical engineering, is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of space flight....

. The program has two basic purposes: first, to educate cadets in the practice of space systems engineering

Systems engineering

Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...

; and two, to produce a sounding rocket each year. The original technological goal of the program was to develop a light (~100 lb) sounding rocket capable of delivering a small (~5 lb) payload to the edge of space (~100 km). Senior-level cadets handle most aspects of the program.

This program is similar in concept to another USAFA Astronautics program, FalconSAT

FalconSAT

FalconSAT is the name of the United States Air Force Academy's small satellite engineering program. Satellites are designed, built, tested, and operated by Academy cadets. The project is administered by the USAFA Space Systems Research Center under the direction of the Department of Astronautics...

.

History

2002-2003: FalconLaunch-1

2003-2004: FalconLaunch-2

2004-2005: FalconLaunch-3

2005-2006: FalconLaunch-4

2006-2007: FalconLaunch-5

2007-2008: FalconLaunch-6 - Exploded during test firing on 4 November 2009.

2008-2009: FalconLaunch-7 - Test launched from the White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...

in April 2009. It successfully delivered its payload section to an altitude of 354,724 feet, setting a world altitude record for university-built rockets.

2009-2010: FalconLaunch-8 - Scheduled for test launch in April 2010.