Hardin Valley Academy Team 1 tops among 100 teams competing in National Finals and the nearly 800 that entered the 2023 American Rocketry Challenge

Hardin Valley Academy Team 1 from Knoxville, Tenn. today were crowned National Champion at the world’s largest student rocketry competition – the American Rocketry Challenge. Hardin Valley Academy Team 1 had the best score of 100 teams from across the country competing at the National Finals, which took place at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va.

On March 2, 2023, American Rocketry Challenge alum Warren “Woody” Hoburg launched to the International Space Station as the mission pilot for a six-month mission as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6. Woody participated in the first-ever American Rocketry Challenge in 2003, then known as the Team America Rocketry Challenge, as a North Allegheny High School (Pennsylvania) team member, alongside his brother.

Built on the shared interest in attracting diverse groups of students to STEM and aerospace, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) announced it signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to inspire the next generation of aerospace and STEM professionals. The agreement will enable AIA to expand upon its award-winning American Rocketry Challenge program to create opportunities that broaden student participation in aerospace and provide connections to NASA’s Artemis program and other NASA missions.