What is the Girls' Rocketry Challenge?

This is a program for junior high and high school girls interested in science and technology to team up and try their hand at building a model rocket to be launched using gunpowder, RIVANES is in charge of the planning and administration of the program. Model rocket development is a widely adopted program in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the U.S., and is proven to be safe and practical, utilizing the physics and mathematics students learn on a daily basis.

What is a model rocket?

Model rockets are model rockets that use gunpowder engines to launch high into the sky at speeds of approximately 180 km per hour. It has a history of more than 50 years in the world, and has been launched more than 500 million times without accident. The rocket can be built freely except for the gunpowder engine, and is popular worldwide as a safe educational material for space education. In Japan, anyone can launch a rocket by obtaining a license issued by the Model Rocket Association. There is a domestic competition and a world competition in which four countries (the U.S., the U.K., France, and Japan) participate.

Past Participating Schools

Since its implementation in 2016, a total of 12 schools have participated in the program. A community has developed among the schools that have participated in the program in the past, continuing to develop after the program has ended and reuniting everyone again at the national competitions.

Girls' Rocketry Challenge Program Flow

At the appointment ceremony in May, the students will take a model rocket course and fly a rocket they have built themselves to obtain their Level 4 line sense. After that, they start their development by observing the national competition and learning what kind of aircraft the competing teams are flying. The rocket development period is approximately four months. Teams get together and improve their rockets through repeated hypothesis testing. Then comes the national competition in October! They hope to compete with the rocket they have developed.

May Appointment Ceremony	May: Tour of the National Convention
June-September Model rocket development	August: Launching contest
October: Participated in a national competition!	November Graduation Ceremony