u/TanakaChonyera

On September 24th and 25th, I taught 150 third and fourth graders (ages 9 to 11) to build and launch their own high-power rockets for Eli Lilly's Global Day of Service! These are fiberglass kits flying on the same family of propellant as real rockets, and they went 2,000 feet into the sky!

Global Day of Service is the day Lilly employees around the world volunteer in their communities. This was the community event for our new Lilly site in Lebanon, Indiana, and it was a pilot. I'm so grateful to Lilly for believing in my vision and my dream for these kids.
Day one was the build. We had about 300 people in a school gymnasium, including over 120 volunteers, and I was in the center directing everybody. All 150 kids built their rockets in one day. This is the result of continuous improvements I've made to compress the build time since I started.

Day two was the launch. I searched for low-traffic airports near Lebanon, contacted the director of Sheridan Airport, and he let me close the airport for half the day! We had X’s on the runway. I also contacted the adjacent landowner, Beck’s Superior Hybrids, since the rockets would land in their fields. I brought in Indiana Rocketry as our launch partner, and then we filed for the FAA waiver. I had us launch 8 rockets at a time while the kids sat on the runway and watched, then they went out to recover their rockets. You never get access to a runway like that. It’s a day they will never forget.

The biggest technical challenge was that I was the only certified person. That’s a massive bottleneck with this many rockets. So I ran trainings four Sundays in a row leading up to the event and trained 25 adult volunteers as my teaching assistants. On launch day I flew their certification flights first so I had certified people helping me run the field. I also brought my experience as a capital projects construction manager at Lilly and applied Lilly’s internal safety standards and OSHA’s hierarchy of controls to the whole operation. To my knowledge, high-power rocketry has never been done with kids at this scale.

My bootcamp has been completely free since I started it in August 2025. High-power rocketry is an expensive hobby, and most kids never get to experience it. This event cost about $75,000, which is $500 of value per kid, delivered completely free. And every kid keeps their rocket! I want them to be family heirlooms, a reminder that they built something that overcame gravity. I'm so proud of them!

This was the greatest 72 hours of my life! It was incredibly hard work and a lot of long nights, and it was absolutely worth it.

Governor Mike Braun sent me a letter thanking me for mentoring these students in rocketry, and his office read it to the kids at the launch (it's in the photos). I'm very grateful for the recognition, and I'm going to keep this going!

Thank you to Lilly and our Lilly Lebanon site team, who came together to make this happen. It wouldn't have been possible without you. Thank you to MEPI, the nonprofit I started this with. Thank you to Indiana Rocketry, you did an incredible job and I love you guys. Thank you to Sheridan Airport and its director, who was amazing. Thank you to Beck's Superior Hybrids for letting our rockets land on your field. And thank you to the volunteers and every supporter.

When I see your encouraging comments, it keeps me going. It's a lot of hard work, and it's worth it for the kids.

Launch video: https://youtube.com/shorts/Et5Stk0SiOI

That brings my total to 336 rockets! Indiana will have the most rockets per capita in the world! 🌎🚀

I teach kids how to build and launch fiberglass high-power rockets! I created the camp to inspire them, and nothing says inspiration like launching a rocket over 5,000 feet using the same fuel as NASA’s rockets! I also make it completely free to eliminate the high cost barrier to entry. One of my favorite parts is that the rockets are taller than some of the kids. That’s been one of my goals from the start.

I’m aiming to train 1,000 kids and have them build 1,000 rockets! This past Sunday we launched in Muncie at the AMA field, and it was an incredible experience. I set up about 27 rockets from my cohorts at the Indiana State Museum and the Fishers Parks Maker Playground, where I ran my build sessions.

I can’t wait to see what these kids do later in life. Indiana will have the highest rockets per capita in the world! 🚀

In 20 years, the kids I taught this weekend will be headed to the moon, inventing new math, discovering new physics, creating great art, whatever they want! Because now they know they can!

I ran two of my High-Power Rocket Bootcamps back to back this past Friday and Saturday! One at the Indiana Convention Center on Friday and the other at the Indiana State Museum on Saturday for their Space Day! It was an incredibly demanding but astronomically rewarding two days. I’m so glad I got more rockets in more people’s hands and I can’t wait for them to see them launch.

It’s a great experience for the kids and adults! I bring back kids from previous cohorts to volunteer for new ones, so they go from students to teachers. I also have adult volunteers build their own rockets too. Everybody gets one.

I created this bootcamp to inspire everyone, and I make it free because my goal is to eliminate cost and logistics barriers to entry. The material is fiberglass, and the launch sites are ~1 hour and 30 mins away, so I charter transportation to get everyone there.

I’m at over 200 kids taught and 145 rockets built.

My goal is for Indianapolis to have the most rockets per capita in the world! 🌎🚀

I’m organizing my high-power rocketry bootcamp as part of a corporate volunteer STEM day. I’m looking for land in or near Indy (don’t mind going further out).

I need an open field with roughly a 1,500-foot clear radius (about 162 acres of unobstructed space). Rockets will fly to around 2,000 feet, and the national rocketry safety codes require a launch site sized to at least 1.5 times the highest anticipated altitude. So 2,000 feet up means 1,500 feet of clearance in every direction. Open farmland, pasture, or large tracts with no overhead obstructions are ideal.

Don’t count yourself out on the acreage. I’m flexible on shape, so a long rectangular field can work, and two adjacent properties can combine to make up the space. If you’ve got a big open stretch and aren’t sure it fits, reach out anyway and we’ll figure it out.

For context, the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry are the two national organizations that govern the safe flying of high-power rockets in the US, and this event runs by their codes.

The target date is Friday, September 25, with Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th as backup days. Rocketry is weather-dependent, so I want the full weekend as a window in case we need to push for wind or rain. This is a custom event, and I handle the FAA waiver and all safety coordination on my end.

If you own land that fits, or you know someone who does, drop a comment or send me a message. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I’m organizing a high-power rocketry event as part of a corporate volunteer STEM day. I’m looking for land in or near Indy.

I need an open field with roughly a 1,500-foot clear radius (about 162 acres of unobstructed space). Rockets will fly to around 2,000 feet, and the national rocketry safety codes require a launch site sized to at least 1.5 times the highest anticipated altitude. So 2,000 feet up means 1,500 feet of clearance in every direction. Open farmland, pasture, or large tracts with no overhead obstructions are ideal.

Don’t count yourself out on the acreage. I’m flexible on shape, so a long rectangular field can work, and two adjacent properties can combine to make up the space. If you’ve got a big open stretch and aren’t sure it fits, reach out anyway and we’ll figure it out.

For context, the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry are the two national organizations that govern the safe flying of high-power rockets in the US, and this event runs by their codes.

The target date is Friday, September 25, with Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th as backup days. Rocketry is weather-dependent, so I want the full weekend as a window in case we need to push for wind or rain. This is a custom event, and I handle the FAA waiver and all safety coordination on my end.

If you own land that fits, or you know someone who does, drop a comment or send me a message. Your help is greatly appreciated!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the U.S.!

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 kids across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you. My goal is 1000 people, each with their own rocket, by the end of the year!

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post on the Indiana subreddit!

I’ve also been featured in The Week Junior!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the entire US.

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 students across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you.

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post on the Indiana subreddit!

I’ve also been featured in The Week Junior!

The greatest day of my life! I have no words… actually I have a lot.

This past Saturday and Sunday was truly the magnum opus of my life.

Saturday I ran a rocket build session with 19 students. Sunday was launch day. I took those 19 students plus 11 more from my April 4th build session and we rolled out to Williamsport for LDRS (Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships), the premier and largest launch event in the entire US.

Between the students, the volunteers, and their rockets, we launched 39 rockets in a single day. Every single one soared close to 2,000 feet in the air.

This was me at my best. Every lesson learned from the first time I did this back in August last year culminated into this execution. The kids had a fantastic time. One parent told me her son was tired afterward and said she had never heard those words come out of his mouth before! Another student’s rocket is taller than him!

Over 100 students across Indy have had this experience. They are filled with inspiration, hope, and the kind of blazing fire only rocket fuel can give you.

The future of humanity. Colorful rockets, colorful people, colorful dreams, colorful lives!

I’ve got launch videos on my post in the Indiana subreddit!

I took my group out to Williamsport, Indiana for LDRS 44, which is Tripoli Rocketry Association’s Large and Dangerous Rocket Ships event. It’s the biggest rocketry event in the entire country. We launched 39 rockets. All 39 of them flew, every single one!

That was the greatest day of my life! I created this Rocket Bootcamp to inspire the next generation of scientists, astronauts, artists and engineers. Kids 6 and up are the main participants. One of the rockets a student made was taller than them! That’s been one of my goals.

I also recruit adult volunteers from all different backgrounds that I also have build their own rockets to help make this happen. We’ve built over 120 rockets all over Indianapolis. My goal is a thousand by the end of the year!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​