Spaceport America Cup 2022 – Call for Judges and Volunteers

Hello, 

The 2022 Spaceport America Cup will be held at Spaceport America, NM on 21-25 June 2022.  We need judges and volunteers, and I hope that you will join us.  This is the premier intercollegiate rocketry competition in the world, and this year we will have over 1,500 student rocketry team members from 150 collegiate teams representing 25 countries. 
 
This is a great chance to meet and work with some very talented and enthusiastic student rocketry teams, who will be launching their solid, hybrid, or liquid fuel rockets plus payload to either 10,000’ or 30,000’.    

 While we anticipate things mostly returning to normal by this summer, we have made significant adjustments to enable a safe environment for the competition.  This includes moving the poster session outdoors, spreading out the preparation and launch areas at the Spaceport, and holding the closing ceremonies in a large venue – the New Mexico State Pan-Am Center arena – to enable safe social distancing throughout the competition.  We will, of course, be complying with any existing mask or other public health mandates in effect at the time.  

We are hoping that you will be a judge or volunteer for the 2022 Spaceport America Cup.  In particular, we need judges with STEM or aerospace backgrounds – either practical or academic.  Judging tasks will include review of team interim and final technical reports, as well as on-site judging of the quality of the team rockets for those able to travel to the competition.  While familiarity with high-power rocketry is a plus, that is not required. We will provide training to familiarize you with the necessary aspects of your judging tasks.  We need volunteers for everything from directing crowds to directing launches and everything in between, so if you are willing to help, we will find you a place.  

We are using HeroX.com to coordinate judges, teams, and volunteers at  www.herox.com/ SpaceportAmericaCup2022 . If you are willing to help, please go to the HeroX site and fill out the volunteer application by clicking the “Solve this Challenge” button.  Detailed instructions for filling out the application are below my signature.  

If you know of colleagues who would be interested in this opportunity, please feel free to forward this message to them.  We are always looking for judges and volunteers!  

If you have any questions or need clarification, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  I hope to hear from you soon!  

Best regards,
- Bill Hanson 
Bill Hanson, PhD, Colonel, USAF (ret)
Director of Competition Rules, Spaceport America Cup
NAR 105937 TRA 18668 – Level 3
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Detailed instruction for filling out the volunteer application:
1.       Go to -  www.herox.com/ SpaceportAmericaCup2022
2.       Click on the "Solve This Challenge" button
3.       You will need to register for HeroX by filling out the popup form (if you already are registered on HeroX, just log in)
4.       If you had to register, you'll receive an email confirmation, click the link to confirm your email address
5.       Next, you'll be on the Competitor Registration page (yes, this is confusing because it looks like you are applying to compete)
6.       Click the "No, I want to compete individually" button
7.       Scroll down to the Volunteer Application, then click "Begin Entry"
8.       Be sure to fill out all the required fields and click “save & preview"
9.       Submit final entry – that will put you into our judge and volunteer pool