About The ARS

The Albuquerque Rocket Society

The Albuquerque Rocket Society is a Prefecture of the Tripoli Rocketry Association (Tripoli Albuquerque #87) and a Section of the National Association of Rocketry (Section #573).

Our sport is an extremely rewarding combination of designing, building, launching, and recovering entry level to high power rockets. Whether your interest lies in launching small rockets with an "A" motor, very large "level three" motored rockets, or anything in between, you are certainly welcome to join us! Simply show up at one of our meetings or launches. Guests and observers are always welcome! :-)

Bring the youngsters! Rocketry is an excellent way to introduce kids to science and technology. The associated disciplines include physics, chemistry, aeronautics, electronics, and meteorology. The excitement exhibited when a child sucessfully launches and recovers a rocket he or she has built and prepared for launch is quite a motivating influence.

Our club (The Albuquerque Rocket Society) has three launch sites. The primary site in Rio Rancho, NM is open on scheduled launch days, to members and non-members alike, and is capable of handling "A" through "O" motored rockets to a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet AGL. Our second site, near Magdalena, NM, has a clearance to 25,000 feet, and our third site, near White Sands, can handle flights without altitude restrictions. The latter two sites are restricted to club members only.

The ARS is a member of both the Tripoli Rocketry Association (TRA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), rocketry's regulatory organizations. Members are encouraged to join one of the two organizations if the intent is to move up within the sport.

Non-members (and members without TRA or NAR affiliation) may launch rockets during our club sponsored launches at the Rio Rancho site through motor size "F". Members or non-members (with TRA or NAR membership) may launch rockets up to their individual TRA/NAR certification level. Note: There is a charge for non-members for launching rockets with motors larger than an "F".

The "Newbies" link at the left has excellent introductory information about our sport. Below are some images that may help further clarify the various levels within the rocketry arena.

The above is a picture of our low power launch pads. The rockets shown would utilize "A" or "B" motors, or in the case of the black and red rocket on the left, possibly a "C".


Our high power pads can be set up, according to need, in 100' increments. The image above shows the launch of an "H" motored rocket from the 100' pad.		Above shows the preparation of an "L" motored rocket on the 300' pad.

And, from the 500' pad, the launch of a large "M" class rocket.