FAR-OUT: A Hybrids and Liquids Rocketry Competition
Thank you for a wonderful 2026!
Thank you for a great 2026 competition!
The 2026 FAR-OUT competition has concluded, and in spectacular fashion! Out of the 30 initial accepted teams, we had 12 teams attend competition (including one attempted exhibition flight) with 10 teams total launching. Teams not only got the chance to showcase their own technical skills while launching rockets; they got to listen to speakers from the Mojave Air & Space Port, Muon Space, SpaceX, and Boeing, go on test site tours, and most importantly learn from the other teams present and make connections. We had three countries represented this year (USA, Poland, and Mexico) and we had over 220 students present this year. Thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, teams, and spectators for making this our biggest year yet! If you would like to relive the fun, please make sure to check out our livestreams @faroutcompetition on YouTube (Conference Day is below.)
For teams looking to compete in the 2026-27 year, be on the lookout for the Entry Form opening up; we will be trying to open it earlier this year.
Thank you all for another great year of FAR-OUT!
2025-26 Competition Schedule
Wednesday, May 27th
Conference
Mojave Air & Space Port
Stuart O. Witt Convention Center
Thursday, May 28th
Team Setup
FAR Site
Friday, May 29th
Team Setup
FAR Site
Saturday, May 30th
Launch Day 1
FAR Site
Sunday, May 31st
Launch Day 2
FAR Site
This is a general overview of what our competition looked like in 2026. The full detailed competition schedule can be found here.
Tuesday, June 2nd
Cleanup & Teardown
FAR & Mojave Air & Space Port
Monday, June 1st
Launch Day 3
FAR Site
Closing Ceremony
Mojave Air & Space Port
Stuart O. Witt Convention Center
Be part of the world’s first dedicated hybrids and liquids student rocketry competition.
FAR-OUT, or the Friends of Amateur Rocketry - Oxidizers Uninhibited Tournament is a grassroots, first-of-its-kind hybrids and liquids tournament being held by the Friends of Amateur Rocketry group in the Mojave Desert, California. In this competition, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hybrids, research hybrids, and research liquids compete to most accurately simulate their rocket engine’s performance, aiming to get their rocket and payload as close to a prior-simulated “contract” apogee as possible. Teams are grouped into three groups for scoring purposes: Group A (apogees of 5,000’ to 15,000’), Group B (20,000’ to 40,000’), Group C (50,000’ to 110,000’), with exhibition flights permitted up to 240,000’. Teams are also allowed to static fire at competition to display efficiency of their motors.
We also host a conference at the Stuart Witt Convention Center in partnership with the Mojave Air & Space Port, where teams showcase their designs via a poster session and podium presentations, and host tours with local companies for attendees.
This year’s competition will be held from Wednesday, May 27th through Monday, June 1st, 2026. Our opening ceremony and conference will be on May 27th, with Thursday and Friday being setup/test days and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday being our launch days.
Learn more about our 2025-26 teams here.
Overview of the 2025 FAR-OUT competition
Thank you to all of our students, sponsors, spectators, and volunteers for helping us put on the biggest FAR-OUT competition yet! We had a projected 8 teams launching and 2 teams static-firing and got 7 teams launched and 1 team that static-fired twice. We had at maximum around 240 people out at the site, and this year we also had tours hosted by Impulse Space and AFRL.
Detailed results on the winners have been posted here.
Our Mission
Provide the opportunity to learn by doing by encouraging innovation in hybrid and liquids rockets at the Friends of Amateur Rocketry.
Volunteer with us!
Running a competition is a complex task and requires many skillsets, from rocketry expertise to sponsorship or livestream experience. We could use any and all volunteers, whether you can attend competition or not!