ULA Prepares for Upcoming K-12 STEM Event With Ball Aerospace; Tory Bruno Quoted

United Launch Alliance will lift off K-12 student-built payloads on an intern-made sport rocket for an academic engagement event on July 20 at Fort Carson, Colorado in celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing’s 50th anniversary.

The company said Thursday it will work with Ball Aerospace to encourage students to take up science, technology, engineering and math careers through the upcoming Student Rocket Launch.

“The Student Rocket Launch gives students from kindergarten through graduate school hands-on experience designing, problem-solving and innovating with the added experience of launching their work thousands of feet above the ground,” said Tory Bruno, president and CEO at ULA and 2017 Wash100 winner.

Payloads for this year’s program include rovers, drones, data sensors and an Apollo 11 lunar module scale model.

ULA interns design and construct the program’s sport rocket, known as Future Heavy Super Sport. Ball Aerospace interns also contribute to payload designs as part of the Ball Intern Remote Sensing Team program.

“The BIRST program and our long-standing partnership with ULA enable our interns to experience a real-world mission from the design phase of a payload all the way to launch,” said Rob Strain, president at Ball Aerospace.