Welcome to the National Association of Rocketry!
The NAR is all about having fun and learning more with and about sport rockets. We are the oldest and largest sport rocketry organization in the world. Since 1957, over 100,000 serious sport rocket modelers have joined the NAR to take advantage of the fun and excitement of organized rocketry. Read our organizational statement to see more about who we are and what we do.
Attend NAR National Events
- NARCON 2018 – TBA
- NSL 2018 – May 26-28, Geneseo, New York
- Rocketry Festival 2018 & NARAM-60 – August 4-10, Pueblo, Colorado
Read Sport Rocketry Magazine!
Sport Rocketry is a bi-monthly magazine jam-packed with building tips, plans, product reviews, technical information, space science features, interviews, and reports on launches and other rocketry activities from all over the country! (Check our our free online sample issue!)
Visit NAR Organized Rocket Launches!
NAR members and Sections host hundreds of launches each year — both sport launches and competitions — from the local and regional levels to national events. Check out our Online Launch Windows calendar listing some of the launches coming up in the next few months, in the United States and worldwide.
Connect With NAR Local Clubs!
When you get together with model rocket flyers in a NAR Section near you — participate in building sessions, launches, and more! Your sport rocket designing, building, and flying is always more fun when you have rocket flying friends joing you. If you’d like to have a club closer to you, we’ll even show you how to start a new one!
Liftoff With High-Power Rocketry!
Build bigger, climb higher and fly faster! As an adult NAR member, you can become qualified to purchase and use rocket motors more powerful than those allowed to be sold to the general public!
The National Rocketry Competition to Debut August 5th- Competition for All!
For the past 21 months, the Expanding Competition Subcommittee has retooled the U.S. Model Rocket Sporting Code (aka the Sporting Code) so that NAR competition will be significantly more accessible to the average member. The era of event and contest “weighting factors” which had become an arcane contest structure and disincentive to most NAR members to try competition, are now gone.
The new competition rulebook- SportingCode-2017, details a new approach to competition known as the National Rocketry Competition or NRC. The NRC emphasizes eight core events powered with low cost motors. Duration events are: 1/4A – A Parachute, Streamer, Boost-Glider, and Helicopter Duration, and B – C Eggloft Duration. Altitude events (all use altimeters) are: 1/4A – A Altitude, B – C Eggloft Altitude, and A – B Payload Altitude.
One important element of the NRC is that each contest year, six events are chosen from these eight aforementioned events (see the new Sporting Code) and these events are announced at the start of a new contest year, July 1. Competition flyers can begin flying the events as part of the NRC the day after NARAM ends, which is August 5th this year.
In a nutshell, the National Rocketry Competition emphasizes:
- Flying the six selected events (below) as often as you want
- The ability to fly the events with as few as two NAR members; one of which needs to be 18 yrs of age or older.
- The use of ‘core’ competition events that are simple and low cost to build
- The use of readily available and low cost motors
- The ability to compare your performance against people in your competition division, in any of the six events, using a ‘real-time’ online Scoreboard.
- The opportunity to go to NARAM where everyone starts with ZERO points and can fly for a National Championship or individual recognition depending on your pre-NARAM Scoreboard performance and competition interests (again, it’s all in the new Sporting Code)
The events for the 2017-18, inaugural NRC Year are:
- C Eggloft Altitude – Altimeter
- A Payload Altitude – Altimeter
- A Helicopter Duration
- A Streamer Duration
- 1/2A Parachute Duration
- 1/2A Boost Glider Duration
Go to our contest flying pages for lots of resources. Check out the NAR’s online contest calendar to find a rocket competition near you.
Competition Rocketry is Fun! Competition Rocketry is for everyone! Fly the National Rocketry Competition!
Learn New Rocket Techniques with NARTREK!
When you join the NARTREK (National Association of Rocketry Training Rocketeers for Experience and Knowledge) program, you fly increasingly complex rockets through three levels. As each level is finished, you receive an Achievement Certificate and a jacket patch certifying your accomplishment. You are under no time limit. You progress at your own pace. You can even “try it before you buy it” by downloading the NARTREK Bronze level packet now, and following the instructions on the first page!
Launch Student Learning with NAR Educational Materials!
If you’re a teacher, the NAR can help you engage and energize your students with our educational 
resources and 50+ years of model rocket expertise. Go to our Educator’s page for free downloads of rocket plans, lesson guides and grant applications. To subscribe to our bi-monthly NAR Educators e-Newsletter full of ideas and announcements, simply fill out the short survey and contact information form. We’ll be happy to put you on the mailing list.
Connect with Other NAR Members!
Explore These Additional NAR Resources!
