Rocketry Team Reaches National Finals

One World Anchor’s Team Master Arts Festival Advances to National Finals of the American Rocketry Challenge

One World Anchor is proud to announce that Team Master Arts Festival qualified for the National Finals of the 24th annual American Rocketry Challenge, the world’s largest student rocket competition.

The team was selected as one of only 100 national finalists from a record 1,107 middle and high school teams across the United States. The National Finals were held on May 16, 2026, at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.

This season, One World Anchor fielded two teams: Team 1 and Team 2, which worked closely throughout the preparation process. Students shared design insights, supported one another through testing, and learned together through repeated trial, adjustment, and improvement. Based on qualification flight results, Team 1 advanced to the National Finals, representing a proud milestone for the entire One World Anchor rocketry program.

Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry, along with more than 15 industry, government, and academic partners, the American Rocketry Challenge is the aerospace and defense industry’s flagship STEM program. The competition challenges students to design, build, test, and fly rockets that meet precise altitude, flight-duration, and payload-recovery requirements.

For the 2026 challenge, teams were required to safely carry a raw egg to 750 feet, keep the rocket airborne for 36 to 39 seconds, and return the rocket intact.

Now in its 24th year, the American Rocketry Challenge has inspired more than 100,000 students to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Alumni include Warren Hoburg, who competed in the first-ever finals in 2003 and later flew to the International Space Station as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission.

Team Master Arts Festival’s advancement to the National Finals highlights One World Anchor’s commitment to hands-on STEM education, teamwork, and student leadership. Through the rocketry program, students gain real-world engineering experience while developing persistence, communication, and problem-solving skills.

For more information about the American Rocketry Challenge, visit:https://www.rocketrychallenge.org