July 8, 2026 WISP Puts UW on the Map with State’s First Liquid Rocket Written By: Kassi Akers Departments: Electrical & Computer Engineering|Mechanical Engineering Categories: Students|Undergraduate First Place Finish Up close of the LOX system. After two years of fast paced development, WISP, the Wisconsin Space Program student org, competed at the FAR-OUT competition in Mojave, California with the first liquid rocket in UW-Madison and Wisconsin state history. The rocket – standing at 13.5 ft. from tip to tail and 8 in. in diameter – was powered by isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a liquid oxygen (LOX) system. As the only team using a LOX system, the badger engineers found success in designing an incredibly, energy-dense engine. Their design and dedication landed the team a first-place finish in Category B – the grouping of teams with the ability to reach 20,000-50,000 ft. in altitude. Competition Challenges Fresh off the competition, the team is ready to celebrate their successes and build on what they’ve learned. Although they achieved lift-off, they also experienced a hard start during launch due to an issue with the igniter. Unfortunately, an excessive amount of propellant pooled and when ignited caused damage to the engine nozzle. Despite this, the robust injector and feed system withstood the blast and generated enough thrust to accelerate the rocket off the rail. The team is currently working through a failure investigation to avoid this issue in the future. WISP preparing their rocket, NORTHSTAR, for lift-off. Ready to go! Next Steps We have LIFT OFF! As an international competition, the team also had the opportunity to learn from other teams from around the world and share takeaways from their project. Akesh Mallia, future WISP president, commented, “We came out of the competition with a million ideas for how to improve!” Future goals and milestones include building a robust test stand, designing complex engine hardware, and ultimately building a larger rocket. As the Department of Mechanical Engineering prepares to launch the new Aerospace Engineering degree this fall, this team’s momentum and success underscore that aerospace engineering expertise is already thriving at UW-Madison. If you want to learn more about the work it took to get to this point, check out these blog posts: Wisconsin Space Program Completes Liquid Engine Hotfire Wisconsin Space Program Achieves a Hot Fire Ignition Big thanks to Akesh Mallia and Noah Levin for providing photos, quotes, and details about the competition.