NU Rocketry Crowned Overall Champions at the 2025 Australian Universities Rocket Competition

NU Rocketry has soared to victory, claiming the title of Overall Winner at the 2025 Australian Universities Rocket Competition (AURC), held at the Endeavour Aerospace launch site in White Cliffs, NSW.

Competing with Project Hyperion in the 10,000 ft COTS category, NU Rocketry achieved a maximum altitude of 10,068 ft, with a razor-sharp 0.68% margin of error.

This outstanding result secured the team four major accolades:

• 1st Place – 10K COTS

• 1st Place – Overall Winner

• Best Sportsmanship Award

• Best New Team Award

NU Rocketry’s victory is even more remarkable given the strength of the competition, which saw leading teams from across Australia showcase their innovation and technical expertise. Other award recipients included university teams including USYD Rocketry Team, UQ Space and RMIT High Velocity.

The event, organised by the Australian Youth Aerospace Association (AYAA), brought together student teams, industry leaders, and aerospace experts for one of the premier rocketry competitions in the southern hemisphere.

Dr Dylan Cuskelly, Lead Academic for NU Rocketry and NUTeams, shared after the competition close:

“This win is a testament to the talent, perseverance, and teamwork of our students. Project Hyperion’s success reflects the high calibre of engineering education at the University of Newcastle, and the incredible support from our partners who make opportunities like this possible. I couldn’t be prouder of what this team has accomplished.”

NU Rocketry extends gratitude to the University of Newcastle, NU Teams, and the many industry partners and sponsors whose support made this achievement possible, including: Kongsberg, Australian Space Agency, Boeing, Varley, Sandvik, ResTech, Ampcontrol, RPC Technologies, 3ME Technology, Robotic Systems, Ausgrid, SAFEgroup Automation and Banlaw.

Special thanks also go to Endeavour Aerospace for hosting a world-class launch facility, the competition judges and volunteers, and mentor Brad Younger of Sunburnt Space Co., whose guidance has been invaluable to the team since their reformation in 2022.

With these victories, NU Rocketry has firmly positioned itself as a leader in student rocketry, flying the flag for Newcastle innovation on the national stage.

Photo credit: Jade Rayner, Monash High Powered Rocketry (HPR).