Our Crowdfunding Groups
STAR is UC Berkeley’s only openly accessible high powered rocketry team. We were founded in Spring 2016 by a small group of people who wanted to launch off-the-shelf model rockets. Soon, we realized that Berkeley was severely lacking any form of aerospace education and took an active role to fill that void. In just a few short years, we have evolved into a large team with nearly 100 members across different majors and backgrounds who share a burning passion for space exploration. Now, we need your help to keep our momentum going - will you make a gift today?
Exploration and development of space is a rapidly growing and developing field, and our mission is to enable students from diverse backgrounds and majors to get involved with that area, even in the absence of an aerospace major on campus. We feel that we uniquely serve the campus community by accepting all interested members regardless of their experience and background.
Our project this year is to build SPECTRE, STAR’s rocket for the upcoming IREC (Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition) in Summer 2019, and our stepping stone to take Cal to the stars! The technologies we develop in the course of this project will contribute directly to our long-term mission to make UC Berkeley the first university to launch a student-built rocket into space.
As Berkeley’s home for students interested in space travel, STAR strives to bring together students from varied backgrounds and show them that anyone with passion and drive can touch the stars. SPECTRE represents our next step - a larger vehicle, equipped with more complex subsystems and designed with more complex processes, than anything we’ve done before. When complete, it will fly to 10,000 feet - twice as high as anything we’ve previously attempted - under the power of a custom liquid bipropellant engine.
However, project SPECTRE is more than just one launch. Our team will engage in independent research projects on novel avionics and propulsion systems, to name a few, with the goal of putting these technologies into use on an eventual space shot. SPECTRE is our first step towards launching into space, and every dollar we raise will go directly towards the materials and equipment we need to make it happen.
We are also continuing to engage in community outreach events that have been a cornerstone of our organization since its inception, where we aim to inspire the next generation of rocket scientists and astronomers. These involve both engaging with the campus community through workshops, and with the broader Bay Area community through hands-on activities with children from kindergarten through high school.
In short, SPECTRE will inspire. It will empower our members to believe they can do anything; it will inspire the greater campus community to chase their own dreams; and it will leave the spark of imagination and adventure in the Bay Area community at large.
Please make a gift today! Thank you for your support.
https://www.facebook.com/ucberkeleystar/
https://www.instagram.com/_calstar/
We'll add your name to our website, and give you a shoutout on our social media platforms.
You'll get access to donor only media! View special videos, patch designs, flyers and more!
We'll send you a special STAR logo sticker, along with a personalized note from the team.
We'll send you a STAR keychain and a mission patch for Project Spectre - the same received by the team members who worked on it.
We'll send you a custom-made plaque commemorating Project Spectre - a perfect addition to a shelf or fireplace!
We'll take you behind the scenes of what goes on at STAR! You'll get to talk to the team and/or see a work session, and see where your donation money goes.
We'll work with you to create a custom graphic on Spectre, visible to hundreds of people at the competition!
You'll get to meet with the team for a day - either at an on-campus event or during a launch - and see the hard work we put in as we move towards launching Spectre!
