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Project Imua (to move forward in Hawaiian) is a joint faculty-student enterprise of mulitple University of Hawai‘i Community College campuses in affiliation with Hawai‘i Space Grant Consortium. To date the following campuses have participated in Project Imua: Windward Community College, Honolulu Community College, Kauai Community College and Kapiolani Community College.

Project Imua's primary mission is to experiment with high-power rocketry [involving rockets using motor impulse ratings of up to O (4960 Ns) at certification Level 3] and to design and fabricate small payloads (up to approximately 7 kg) for space flight. This research provides undergraduates with real-world, project-based learning opportunities in various STEM fields. Since its establishment in 2014 through a Hawaii Space Grant Consortium award, Project Imua has managed various missions, including participation in RockSat-X, ARLISS, NASA Student Launch Project (SLP) and Spaceport America Cup ESRA competitions.

First in Space for UHCC

The first three missions of Project Imua were devoted to developing small payloads for sub-orbital flight. Project Imua Missions 1, 2 and 3 (RockSat-X 2015, 2016 and 2017) involved the design, construction, testing and launch of three separate payloads into outer space using RockSat-X’s sounding rocket launch system at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. These missions were conducted in collaborated by four UHCC campuses--included WindwardCC, KauaiCC, HononoluCC and KapiolaniCC. These missions involved the first student-developed payloads ever designed and flown in outer space by community college students from Hawaii.

Hawaii Governor David Ige presented commemorative plaques to Project Imua teams during a ceremony at the State Capitol on October 23, 2015 for Project Imua Mission 1’s exemplary work in designing, constructing and launching the first payload ever sent into outer space by a UH campus.

Each Project Imua campus participating in this historic space flight mission was awarded a special commemorative plaque.