ARLISS (A Rocket Launch for International Student Satellites) is an international rocketry event held annually in September at Black Rock, Nevada. WCC Space Grant students have participated in the ARLISS competition since 2006.

WCC’s participation in ARLISS is unique among the other competitors, since it is the only institution that supplies its own custom-built rocket to launch its payload. The other colleges use rockets provided by AeroPAC members. The ARLISS competition requires each payload-carrying rocket to be certified to withstand the 5-g stress of launch and capable of safely carrying and deploying the payload to the specified altitude.  As such, the rockets are designed with separate, but redundant chute deployments.

SLP (Student Launch Project)—formerly known as the USLI (University Student Launch Initiative)—is a NASA-conducted engineering design challenge to provide resources and experiences for students and faculty. Research topics are conceived by the SLS Program Office in collaboration with Space Launch System (SLS)industry partners. Payloads developed by teams address research needs of different subsystems on the SLS. Launches are conducted in Huntsville, Alabama during the Spring.

The following are summaries of some of the past missions at ARLISS and SLP/USLI.

ARLISS 2009 | ARLISS 2010 | ARLISS 2011 | ARLISS 2012